SDPD Officer Is Re-arrested in La Mesa for Allegedly Choking Wife

A San Diego police officer suspended last month for allegedly battering his wife in La Mesa was re-arrested overnight on suspicion of inflicting corporal injury on his spouse, authorities said.

Gilbert Lorenzo, 31, was booked into San Diego Central Jail by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department at 11:18 p.m. Monday, according to the sheriff's online jail records. He was seen exiting the jail and getting into a taxi around 6 a.m. today, after posting $50,000 bail.

Sometime Monday evening, Lorenzo allegedly choked his wife in Spring Valley while exchanging custody of their young children, KFMB-TV Channel 8 reported.

Lorenzo, who is assigned to the SDPD Northern Division, was initially arrested by La Mesa police April 22 on suspicion of felony domestic battery and quickly posted $50,000 bail. Though he was immediately placed on unpaid leave from the department, he has yet to be arraigned because the District Attorney's Office has said its investigation is continuing.

Lorenzo, his wife and their young children live in La Mesa. Following the alleged battery incident in April, Lorenzo's 24-year-old wife, who did not require hospital treatment, came out in his defense, saying he should not have been arrested.

SDPD Chief Shelley Zimmerman said someone alerted her department to the alleged battery incident in April and the case was quickly turned over to La Mesa police because that's where the crime allegedly occurred.

Around 2:30 a.m. today, Lorenzo's wife, Tanya, posted on her Facebook page, "Dear beautiful daughters next to me, your my purpose for thriving ... us three can take on the world."

Lorenzo is a seven-year veteran of the SDPD.

—City News Service