Video gets cop in trouble again

SANTA FE (KRQE) - The cop charged in a counterfeit bill operation was facing legal troubles before he was hired with the tribal police force because of something he did that was caught on video.

Attorney Rick Sandoval has filed a lawsuit claiming then Dillard’s security officer Anthony Rivera assaulted a department store customer by slamming her to the ground over and over again in July 2012.

“It went too far a long time ago,” Sandoval said. “She should have never been on the ground.”

Sandoval said the force used by this security officer is excessive. Pictures taken after show the woman badly scarred and bruised.

The officer in the video claimed the woman was shoplifting. The department store pursued charges but they were dropped.

“The city prosecutor looked at it and said there was no evidence she tried to proceed past the point of purchase,” Sandoval said.

Now that security officer is being sued for assault and battery. 

Sandoval said he may look familiar because the officer is Anthony Rivera, the Tesuque cop and former Santa Fe Police officer who is now facing his own criminal charges for a counterfeit bill operation.

“All I can say to that is it shows me that there is a pattern here that people need to look into and question,” Sandoval said.

Police didn't file criminal charges against Rivera for what's happening in this video but the woman is suing him and Dillard’s for damages. She claims she had items in her purse she was going to pay for when Rivera slammed her face into the carpet several times.

When this went down Rivera had just retired from the Santa Fe Police after serving 20 years with the department. Months after the incident he would be hired with the Tesuque Tribal Police.

Sandoval questions if Rivera should be wearing a badge at all.

“This was just a vicious attack whether it was a security guard or police officer,” Sandoval said.

Tesuque Tribal Police placed Rivera on administrative leave after his recent arrest.

We called them to see if they knew about the civil lawsuit before hiring him but they had not returned our phone calls at the time of this broadcast.

Along with Rivera, police also charged his brother in the crime and arrested his son for intimidating a witness.