A former Desert Hot Springs police officer was arrested on Friday, Nov. 7, after prosecutors charged him with assaulting a teenager during an arrest last year.
The ex-officer, Johnny Acosta, is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, filing a false report and assault by a peace officer under color of authority. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said he was fired last year following a Desert Hot Springs Police Department internal investigation.
About 2 a.m. on Nov. 8, 2024, city police officers were called to Desert Hot Springs High School on Pierson Boulevard for a report of burglary and vandalism of the football field concession stand, the sheriff’s department said. They found four people inside the concession stand, who ran when they saw the officers.
The Desert Hot Springs Police Department said Acosta used force against two 17-year-old suspects. Neither the sheriff’s department nor the police department detailed how Acosta used force, but the sheriff’s department said one of the teenagers sustained minor injuries from the incident.
Acosta went on administrative leave that same day, the police department said. An outside investigator conducted an internal investigation into the incident, and the police department also requested the sheriff’s department’s force investigations detail task force to investigate independently.
The police department terminated Acosta on March 27, 2025, based on its internal investigation. The DA’s office filed charges against him and he was arrested just under a year after the incident.
He was booked into the John Benoit Detention Center with his bail set at $30,000.
Ani Gasparyan covers the western Coachella Valley cities of Desert Hot Springs and Cathedral City. Reach her at ani.gasparyan@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Ex-Desert Hot Springs police officer charged with assaulting teen
Reporting by Ani Gasparyan, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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