the sentencing for a former Hollywood Police officer convicted of falsifying records for fabricating an accident report for a crash his co-worker committed was postponed Wednesday.
Dewey Pressley, 45, faces just under two years behind bars after he was convicted by a jury earlier this month. He was acquitted of the more serious charges of official misconduct and conspiracy.
Sentencing was rescheduled for January 13.
Pressley, fellow officer Joel Francisco, and three other Hollywood Police Department employees were allegedly part of an elaborate cover up that included staged crime-scene photos, an imaginary cat and a coordinated lie that all happened to be caught on one of the cops' patrol car video cameras.
On Feb. 17, 2009, Francisco, an 11-year veteran of the force, crashed into the back of a car being driven by Alexandra Torrens-Vilas as she was stopped at a red light, authorities said.
Instead of taking blame for the accident, Francisco and Pressley allegedly began concocting a story which would pin the crash on Torrens-Vilas, who was arrested at the scene for DUI.
Pressley, a 21-year veteran of the force, was caught on a police dashboard camera telling the other officer they'd do "a little Walt Disney to protect the cop," and began making up a story about a cat.
"As far as I'm concerned. I'm going to put words in his mouth. She went to accelerate and a cat jumped out of the window at which point he thought it could have been a pedestrian, which distracted him," Pressley tells Sgt. Andrew Diaz, according to police. "I mean what's the chances of hitting a f---in drunk when a cat jumps out of the window?"
Torrens-Vilas, who was actually drunk, was handcuffed in the back seat while the cops allegedly conjured up the story to frame her.
"I know how I'm going to word this with the cat so we can get him off the hook. I'll write the narrative," Pressley says in the video. "We're going to bend this a little bit. We'll do a little Walt Disney to protect the cop because it wouldn't have mattered because she is drunk anyway."
The charges against Torrens-Vilas were eventually dropped and the participants in the would-be fairy tale were fired.
Francisco has pleaded not guilty. His trial hasn't begun yet.
Pressley had faced up to 30 years behind bars if he'd been found guilty of the ten original counts he'd been charged with.
