The Sunset police department has an interim Chief of Police as of last week. Former Assistant Chief Heath Treadway will fill in as interim Chief over the Sunset Police Department.
KATC has reached out to the Mayor and the Sunset Police Department, but we have not yet received a response.
Since the term Padilla was elected to doesn't expire until December 2026, the board of aldermen has called an election for the unexpired remainder of his term: It will be on October 11, 2025. Qualifying for the race will be July 9 through 11.
This all comes after former Police Chief Luis Padilla pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge and stepped down. The criminal case was investigated by the FBI, and he was indicted by a federal grand jury.
He was indicted for willfully using unreasonable force against an individual, but pleaded guilty to a bill of information charging him with deprivation of rights under color of law. He agreed to resign as part of his plea deal.
The guilty plea came in connection with a December 2023 incident in which the chief allegedly restrained someone in handcuffs without justification while forcefully twisting that person's thumb and wrist to cause pain. Federal prosecutors said that force injured the person, whom they did not name.
His sentencing is set for June; a pre-sentence report was ordered by the court. He faces up to one year in jail and up to $100,000 in fines, as well as up to one year of supervised release. The plea agreement states that the government and the defense are agreed that he should be sentenced to probation - but it also acknowledges that the sentence is up to the court.
To read our story about that, click here.
We talked to the victim in the Padilla case, here's that story:
