Matthew Dominguez, age 32, was one of three officers who responded to a call April 21st in San Jose, according to the Santa Clara County district attorney’s office in a press release. Police were requested to the home due to a restraining order involving the family son, who, cops say, has been battling mental illness. Police were there to investigate a possible violation of that order. The 23-year-old daughter told Dominguez where her brother might be. Dominguez took the lead on the case and dispatched his two partners to find the young man.
While his partners were working, Dominguez wandered around the home milling about, but somehow managed to keep the daughter in view of his body camera the entire time. The young woman asked Dominguez what she should do with her brother’s GPS monitor and went to fetch it in the kitchen. Dominguez followed her to the dining room just outside of the kitchen. The daughter handed Dominguez the GPS units and while she was discussing the unit, that is when the mother saw Dominguez unzip his pants and place his hand inside his zipper to rub his crotch. At this point, the mother asked her daughter to get her a glass of wine, which the daughter mistakenly offered to Dominguez, assuming her mother meant it for the police officer. The mother asked the daughter to go get her a glass of water after this and Dominguez then followed the daughter into the kitchen and the mother followed him. When he turned around the mother saw his penis outside of his pants fully exposed according to investigators. The mother and daughter fled the house and called her husband. The daughter also called her uncle which was nearby.
According to the charging documents the father ran into the house and saw Dominguez facing out of the kitchen with his penis in his left hand and his right hand on the counter. The two made eye contact and then the father left the room according to police. Two minutes later, Dominguez left the house and went back to work as if nothing happened. At this point it was the father and the uncle which reported Dominguez’s behavior to the other officers who happened to be on the scene. It is unclear what happened with the brother.
Dominguez, who is a four-year veteran of the police force was charged with a misdemeanor of indecent exposure and was placed on administrative leave from the Police Department. It wasn’t clear if Dominguez has an attorney to represent him and he is not in custody. His next court date will be on June 22nd of 2022. In a highly unusual step, police chief Anthony Mata released public video of him walking Dominguez out the door, something the chief said he would do to any officer who acted criminally and besmirched the good name of the department. Police blurred Dominguez’s face in the video, however, the District Attorney took the unusual step of releasing a booking photo of Dominguez on Twitter, something that is also quite rare.
“The charged behavior is beyond disturbing,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “Law enforcement officers respond to our homes to help crime victims, not terrorize, traumatize, and create new victims.”
Officer Matthew Dominguez, 32, faces a misdemeanor indecent exposure charge. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said if convicted, he could face a year in jail and be placed on the sexual offender list for 10 years. https://t.co/r16FA2ZYuO
— KION News 5 46 (@KION546) May 13, 2022
This story syndicated with permission from For the Love of News