LA sheriff’s deputies accused of harassing relatives of people killed by deputies

A report released this week claims that deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) regularly targeted relatives of several individuals who were fatally shot by members of the agency.

The 37-page report from the National Lawyers Guild Los Angeles, ACLU of Southern California and other groups lists instances of alleged harassment against relatives of two men: Paul Rea and Anthony Vargas.

Rea, 18, died in 2019 after being shot multiple times by an East Los Angeles deputy. Vargas, 21, was fatally shot by two deputies in 2018.

The report, which was also presented by groups like Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and the Check the Sheriff Coalition, said deputies tried to intimidate family members of Rea and Vargas by “slowly driving by or parking in front of their homes,” “slowly driving by memorial sites” and “damaging items at memorial sites.”

Deputies also allegedly taunted relatives with rude comments and gestures, followed them as they drove, parked outside the relatives’ places of work, took pictures of them and recorded them.

The groups further allege that deputies harassed relatives who were minors, frequently pulled over family members and searched their vehicles, and detained members without probable cause.

The report detailed several incidents of alleged harassment, claiming in some cases it took place after individuals spoke publicly against the killings of their family member.

In one incident in October 2019, the groups say Rea’s sister Jaylene spoke out about her brother’s killing and later that month also attended a town hall that was hosted by Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.

The report alleged that Jaylene was forcefully arrested by LASD deputies without probable cause shortly after attending the town hall. In the roughly two hours she was allegedly held by police, Jaylene was not told by deputies why she was arrested, the report stated.

“LASD deputies eventually brought her to the East Los Angeles Station around 1:00 am, when ACLU SoCal attorney Andrés Dae Keun Kwon was able to see her. Claiming no one on staff at the East Los Angeles station was able to run her fingerprints, LASD kept Jaylene overnight,” the report said.

“Jaylene’s family members and the ACLU SoCal attorney stayed at the East Los Angeles station until 7:00 am, when LASD finally released Jaylene. While she was detained, LASD personnel deleted videos Jaylene took of them on her phone,” it continued.

The report detailed another alleged incident involving Valerie Vargas, who was Anthony Vargas’s aunt, a month earlier, saying she was followed on her way home by an unmarked black SUV shortly after attending another town hall held by Villanueva.

The report also alleged deputies harassed Rea’s 14-year-old sister last year. At the time, she had allegedly been leaving her middle school, which the report noted was located near the East Los Angeles station of the deputies.

“She was wearing a sweatshirt with her brother’s face and name on the front. As she was walking outside the school, two deputies stared at her and then started laughing. One of the deputies then got into a patrol car and pulled up alongside her,” the report stated.

The report alleged the car followed her “very slowly as she walked along the street” and that the teen “ran into the library and called her mother for help” not long after.

A spokesperson for LASD said that while the office has not yet had the “opportunity to fully examine this non-peer reviewed report in detail,” the actions by the deputies involved in the deaths of Paul Rea and Anthony Vargas were determined “lawful” by the Justice System Integrity Division. 

“Any and all allegations of misconduct brought to the attention of the department are thoroughly investigated,” the spokesperson said in a statement, adding that “all of the information surrounding both of these incidents can be found posted publicly” on the office’s website.

The report’s authors said the alleged harassment targeting families who speak out against the LASD is a “countywide problem disproportionately affecting Black and Latinx Angelenos.”

“In South Los Angeles, LASD deputies have also ruthlessly harassed Black families grieving relatives killed by the department,” they added, pointing to similar harassment allegations brought by families of Ryan Twyman, a 24-year-old Black man killed by deputies in 2019, and AJ Weber, a Black 16-year-old killed the year before.

The report comes as the department, which says it has more than 10,000 sworn deputies, has drawn scrutiny over alleged abuses committed by so-called deputy gangs, according to The Guardian.

According to the groups’ report, there were more than 130 LASD deputy shootings from November 2015 to November 2020, the vast majority of which resulted in a Black or Latino person being shot.

The report states at least 20 of these shootings were committed by deputies at the East Los Angeles station, which it called “home to the Banditos deputy gang,” and said 35 of the shootings also “occurred in the jurisdictions of the three South Los Angeles LASD stations, all of which are home to active deputy gangs.”

Advocacy groups recommended that state officials establish an independent office of law enforcement standards to investigate allegations of misconduct and carry out disciplinary action, as well as form a reporting mechanism outside of the agency for incidents of family harassment.

In a motion filed earlier this week, a Los Angeles County supervisor, Hilda Solis, also brought attention to the allegations against the LASD involving relatives who have lost loved ones at the hands of deputies.

The motion called for the board of supervisors to direct Los Angeles County’s Office of Inspector General to conduct an in-depth investigation into such incidents and report back to the body within 60 days with “robust recommendations for supporting families and forbidding any harassment of them.”

It also called for the office to report back to the board in the same time frame “on alternate mechanisms for receiving, investigating, and retaining community complaints of deputy harassment, intimidation, and other misconduct, including mechanisms that would work in coordination with the District Attorney’s Office or Office of Inspector General.”

According to The Guardian, the motion, which was filed Tuesday, has already passed with unanimous support.

Updated at 7:01 p.m.