Beaumont Police Officer Accused of Blinding Woman Due in Court

Beaumont Police Officer Accused of Blinding Woman Due in Court
A Beaumont police officer who is accused of several counts of assault that led to the blinding of a woman during a DUI stop is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning.
Enoch Clark was indicted by a criminal grand jury last month on four counts: assault under the color or authority, assault with a less lethal weapon, use of force causing serious bodily injury, and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury-- along with an enhancement that he personally inflicted great bodily injury, according to the Riverside County district attorney's office.
On Tuesday, he's slated to appear at a trial readiness conference at 8:30 a.m. in Riverside, according to court documents.
Grand jury transcripts obtained by Banning-Beaumont Patch indicated that Clark was well-trained on the JPX pepper spray device that was allegedly used at a distance no greater than 10 inches from Monique Hernandez's eyes on the night of Feb. 21.
However, that high-powered pepper spray gun-- which shoots out a pepper-spray mixture at a speed around 400 mph-- is not to be used any closer than five feet away, according to the district attorney's office and grand jury testimony. Doctors say one of the woman's eyes was completely destroyed in the incident, and that she'll likely never see again.
Clark told investigators that he was in fear for his life when he was arresting Hernandez for suspicion of DUI, and thought she would "gouge his eyes out" using the handcuffs, according to the transcripts.
His attorney has said Clark is anxious to appear in court, and tell his side of the story.