EXCLUSIVE: Fired ACSO Deputy in alleged witness bribery hired by Gustine PD

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- An Alameda County Sheriff's Deputy fired for allegedly bribing witnesses of a police beating to remain silent is once again a California police officer.

Shawn Osborne was one of three deputies to lose their jobs in connection with the 2015 beating of Stanislav Petrov.

Last week, Osborne was sworn in as a police officer in Gustine, a small central valley town west of Merced. His first duty will be protecting kids as a School Resource Officer.

In a May 1st Facebook Post, Gustine Police Department writes, "We are proud to introduce Shawn Osborne, our newest full-time police officer."

The department writes Osborne was sworn in on April 30th and is a 20-year vet of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. Also that he'll be filling in as Gustine School Resource Officer for the remaining school year.

In July 2016 - The Alameda County Sheriff's Office fired then Deputy Osborne.

In surveillance video, Osborne can be seen swinging a gold chain that reportedly belonged to Stanislav Petrov.

The video was captured by the same camera that shows Deputies Paul Wieber and Luis Santamaria allegedly striking Petrov more than 40 times. Deputies Wieber and Santamaria were fired and are facing criminal charges. Osborne was not charged criminally but was fired after an Alameda County Sheriff's Office internal investigation into the allegation that he gave the gold chain to a homeless couple who witnessed the beating to silence them.

Bryan Ballenger is Gustine Unified School District's Superintendent. He says his Vice Principal contacted him after community members called the school outraged about Osborne's hire. Many of them also commented on Gustine Police Department's Facebook page.

"It's not the way that you would ideally want to learn about something in somebody's background," said Ballenger.

Ballenger says Osborne starting working as SRO this past Friday. Once he learned of the Facebook post, Ballenger spoke with the

Police Chief and City Manager.

"They confirmed that they knew he had lost his job, yes," said Ballenger.

"We've been assured that they've gone through a very extensive background check and that there wasn't something there that would preclude them from hiring him," he continued.

Neither the Police Chief nor the City Manager responded to ABC7 News' requests.

Osborne's Attorney reached out to him on ABC7 News' behalf but said she did not hear back. She said she believes Gustine Police Department made a good decision to hire him.

Osborne will fill in as SRO through the end of the school year. Ballenger says he'll work with the police department to hire a new SRO for next year.

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