California officer to face assault charge
PETALUMA, Calif. (AP) — A former police officer in Northern California faces trial in November on misdemeanor charges of assaulting a Black woman, coming at the same time the city seeks to address race and policing. The incident in July 2020 came at the height of last year’s Black Lives Matter movement protests. Prosecutors say Lance Novello, a 19-year-veteran of the Petaluma Police Department, assaulted a Black college student. He faces up to a year in jail, a $10,000 fine and the prospect of losing the right to bear arms if convicted of battery and assault by a police officer. A trial is scheduled for November.