Sacramento police officer arrested again on suspicion of domestic violence
A Sacramento police officer was arrested and charged with domestic violence on Friday after prosecutors previously declined to press charges.
In a news release, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said Justin Shepard, 30, was charged with possession of anabolic steroids as well as domestic violence, stemming from an incident earlier this year.
Shepard was arrested May 7 in connection with an alleged domestic violence incident that took place in Natomas. At the time, the Sacramento Police Department said that the victim showed visible signs of injury from the attack. He was released and charges were not filed.
The District Attorney’s Office said its prosecutors found insufficient evidence to file charges as of June 9. However, as the Police Department was investigating the officer over the allegations of domestic violence and for potential anabolic steroid use, Shepard “was involved in another domestic violence incident” in San Francisco, according to the District Attorney’s Office, prompting prosecutors to file charges.
“Based on new criminal conduct and further investigation, our office filed domestic violence charges stemming from the May 6, 2021 incident,” the District Attorney’s Office said in the news release.
He was booked into the Sacramento County jail on Friday on an arrest warrant from San Francisco and two local arrest warrants. Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office records show that he was released from custody the same day.
Shepard was one of the defendants named in a 2020 lawsuit over a police shooting outside a midtown Sacramento Safeway in December 2019. The lawsuit alleged that a dog was injured by an officer’s gunfire, and the city of Sacramento later agreed to pay $99,000 to the dog’s owner in a settlement.
Shepard is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in a Sacramento County court , according to the District Attorney’s Office. The three-year Sacramento police veteran has been on administrative leave since his arrest in May.
This story was originally published August 14, 2021 at 10:40 AM.
