2 Los Angeles sheriff deputies plead guilty to fabricating gun/drug charges against a skateboarder

Sheriffs are waiting sentencing
Victim got $450k settlement

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/second-ex-lasd-deputy-to-plead-guilty-to-federal-charge-involving-compton-skateboarder/
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According to the April indictment, the man identified as J.A. was in an enclosed skate park at Wilson Park in Compton on April 13, 2020, when the deputies arrived and contacted two young Black males outside the park.

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After J.A. yelled at the deputies to stop bothering the youths, Vega allegedly got into an argument with him and challenged J.A. to a fight, prosecutors said. Vega then pulled J.A. through an opening in the park fence and placed him in the back of the deputies' patrol SUV, according to prosecutors.

The skateboarder was not handcuffed, was not told he was under arrest and was not restrained by a seat belt in the back seat of the SUV, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

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Vega and Hernandez both "taunted" the man, suggesting they were going to set him up by dropping him off in gang territory, prosecutors said.

Vega also allegedly made comments saying the deputies were going to "fabricate and falsely allege that (J.A.) exhibited symptoms of being under the influence of a stimulant as a pretext to justify their false imprisonment" of him, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

As Vega was driving the SUV with J.A. still in the back seat, he began pursuing a group of young males on bicycles, prosecutors said. Hernandez jumped out of the SUV to pursue one suspect on foot, while Vega drove into an alley, where he crashed into a wall and another vehicle, causing J.A. to hit his face and head and sustain a cut over his right eye, according to prosecutors.

After the crash, Vega allegedly took J.A. out of the patrol SUV and told him to leave, then reported over the sheriff's radio that a suspect with a gun had run through an alley, and he described the suspect as wearing clothing similar to those worn by J.A.

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https://ktla.com/news/local-news/former-lasd-deputy-to-plead-guilty-to-conspiring-to-violate-falsely-imprisoned-skateboarders-civil-rights/


Former LASD deputy to plead guilty to conspiring to violate falsely imprisoned skateboarder’s civil rights

“While J.A. was at a hospital later in the day to receive treatment for the injuries he sustained from the collision, Hernandez spoke with another deputy who had escorted J.A. to the hospital,” the Justice Department said. “Consistent with the plan suggested and articulated by Vega earlier in the day, Hernandez directed the deputy at the hospital to issue J.A. a citation for being under the influence of methamphetamine, even though Hernandez knew this to be false.” The deputy followed Hernandez’s direction and issued the citation.

The former deputies authored two incident reports which intentionally included false, misleading and ambiguous information in the reports to justify, legitimize and ultimately cover up their unlawful conduct, Hernandez admitted in the plea agreement.

“The first report falsely stated that J.A. appeared to be under the influence of a stimulant; that J.A. had threatened to harm people in the skatepark, as well as Vega and Hernandez; that a crowd of people were moving toward the LASD patrol vehicle as the defendants drove away after unlawfully detaining J.A.; and that, following the crash in the alley, Vega checked J.A. for injuries and J.A. was placed in another patrol vehicle of an assisting LASD unit until paramedics arrived,” the DOJ said. “The second report likewise falsely stated that Vega transferred J.A. to another patrol vehicle after the collision, which both Hernandez and Vega knew to be false.”