Battery Probe of Riverside Chief Ends Without Charges

San Diego prosecutors on Wednesday announced that Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach will not be charged with spousal battery after a hotel-room argument with his wife in September.

The decision ends an investigation into allegations that Leach shoved his wife and stomped on her foot at a San Diego resort during a law-enforcement conference. A hotel security guard told police he witnessed the incident, but Leach and his wife denied violence had occurred.

“Our standard for reviewing whether to file charges is whether we

Russ Leach said he plans to seek criminal charges and file civil lawsuits against San Diego and Riverside officials who revealed confidential information about his wife during the investigation. He did not elaborate.

“I’m glad it’s over, obviously,” he said. “My appreciation goes to the city attorney’s office, who did a marvelous job reviewing the case ... and weighed the credibility of a so-called witness and our statements, honesty and integrity, and made the right decision.”

Early on Sept. 30, a security guard at the Bahia Resort Hotel on Mission Bay called police after he said he heard a woman’s screams. The guard told officers that, while looking in the hotel room’s bathroom window, he saw a man hit a woman on the shoulder and stomp on her foot.

The Leaches told police that they had an argument, but denied that a physical altercation had occurred.