A newly launched video has generated contemporary controversy over the 2021 arrest of a high aide to Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón throughout a site visitors cease in Azusa.
Gascón’s chief of employees, Joseph Iniguez, and his then-fiance had been arrested late on the evening of Dec. 11, 2021, on suspicion of public intoxication and driving whereas intoxicated, respectively.
Each Iniguez and his then-fiance had been later launched from custody and fees had been by no means filed. In January 2022, Iniguez sued the division, claiming his civil rights had been violated in the course of the cease.
The video, which was taken by Iniguez and obtained by The Instances from town of Azusa through a public information request, depicts him arguing with police and claiming his then-fiance, who stood handcuffed a number of toes away, did nothing flawed.
“You might have pulled over the flawed particular person,” he tells the officers within the five-minute video. “This isn’t proper,” he provides later.
Police experiences launched by the division in 2022 acknowledged that the officers pulled over Iniguez’s fiance — to whom he’s now married — after he allegedly made an unlawful U-turn and that each the motive force and passenger confirmed seen indicators of alcohol intoxication.
The Azusa Police Division settled Iniguez’s federal lawsuit final July for $10,000, stating on the time that it was inexpensive than taking it to trial.
Each the police and Iniguez declare the video vindicates their respective interpretations of the occasions of that evening in Azusa.
In a press release offered to The Instances, Azusa Police Capt. Robert Landeros mentioned the division performed an inside evaluation that discovered “the officers concerned acted in full accordance with the regulation and the insurance policies of the Azusa Police Division.”
Landeros added that town and division “stand firmly behind our workers and the choices made throughout this arrest.”
Landeros advised KTLA-TV in an interview that he believes the video proves “our officers had been handled with disrespect” in the course of the cease. “It’s not unusual. It’s disturbing when it includes a public official.”
Glenn Jonas, an lawyer for Iniguez, mentioned in a press release that the video is proof that “Iniguez was 100%, indisputably falsely arrested,” and that he “was lucid, calm, direct and in full management” in the course of the cease.
“Mr. Iniguez in my ebook is a hero,” Jonas mentioned in an e-mail, noting that the official donated the settlement cash to a nonprofit. “He took a false arrest and used it to guard the great residents of Azusa who at the moment are due to him protected with Physique Worn Cameras.”
Gascón’s workplace didn’t reply to a request for remark.
