L.A. officer gets prison for assaulting woman who died

Michael Winter | USA TODAY

A veteran Los Angeles police officer was sentenced to prison Thursday for assaulting a mother who later died after being arrested for abandoning her two children at a precinct station three years ago.

Mary O'Callaghan, 50, an LAPD officer for 18 years, was sentenced to 36 months behind bars, but the judge suspended 20 months of her term. Her attorney, Robert Rico, said that with credit for good behavior, she could be out in 4½ months, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Last month, O'Callaghan was convicted of felony assault under color of authority after dashboard video showed her hitting 35-year-old Alesia Thomas in the throat and kicking her in the groin and midsection. O'Callaghan is white, and Thomas black.

The Los Angeles Police Commission determined that O'Callaghan had used unreasonable force while subduing the 228-pound Thomas, who officers said had resisted arrest. O'Callaghan was one of several officers sent to Thomas' home in South Los Angeles.

The dash-cam video showed her breathing shallowly in the backseat of the police car and asking for an ambulance at one point. The camera captured her last breath, and she was pronounced dead at a hospital.

An autopsy found that Thomas had cocaine in her system when she went into cardiac arrest, but the exact cause of her death was undetermined. Authorities also noted she had suffered from bipolar disorder.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck called O'Callaghan's actions "out of policy," partly because Thomas' resistance "did not constitute a significant threat to the officer."

Thursday, O'Callaghan apologized to Thomas' mother, Sandra, who was in the courtroom.

"Mother to mother, I am extremely sorry," O'Callaghan said, weeping, adding that she prayed for Alesia Thomas' children, who were 3 and 12 at the time of her death.

The judge did not allow them to embrace.

Outside court, Sandra Thomas said she was satisfied with the sentence.

"I feel a great sense of relief," she said.