CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- A former Richmond police officer, who resigned from the department last week, has been convicted of a misdemeanor assault and battery charge and misdemeanor obstruction charge, which stemmed from the night of a deadly quinceañera shootingthat happened in Chester back in July.
Monday morning, Shwarlyn Arriola appeared in Chesterfield County General District Court where a judge gave him a 12-month suspended sentence on each charge. On the misdemeanor assault and battery charge, he was also ordered to have no contact with the victim for one year.
That victim, according to the initial charges, was a Chesterfield Sheriff's Office deputy. Arriola was initially accused of felony assault on a law enforcement officer.
Arriola pled no contest to both charges, which means he acknowledges there is enough evidence to find him guilty, but he is not actually admitting he did anything.
This all happened the night of July 2, when a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed in a bathroom during a quinceañera at the Cultural Center of India.
Four teens have since been charged in that teen's death.
Officials said two off-duty, uniformed Chesterfield County Sheriff's deputies were working the party as security that night when one of the off-duty deputies responded to the gunfire and found a person with a gun.
The sheriff's office said the deputy ordered that person to drop the gun and shot them when that person did not comply. That person was taken to the hospital, but their injuries were not life-threatening.
Police said Arriola was not directly involved in the shooting, but a family member of the teen killed at the party told CBS 6 that Arriola is related to the person who was shot by the off-duty deputy.
Arriola has been on unpaid leave from RPD since the charges were filed, but resigned on Dec. 16.
"A felony would take away his right to possess a firearm, but a misdemeanor charge like this allows him to continue to possess a firearm into the future," explained CBS 6 legal analyst Todd Stone. "So it's not the type of conviction that would necessarily end his law enforcement career. It's a personal decision by his employer as to whether they want to continue to employ him."
