LA deputies charged with lying to cover up on-duty assault

Two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies are facing a felony charge of falsifying a police report, allegedly to cover up an on-duty assault, the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.

Prosecutors say the charges come from a September 2018 incident in East Los Angeles where deputies Woodrow Kim and Jonathan Miramontes responded to a call about multiple suspects in a black BMW threatening someone with a firearm.

A car chase ensued, with one of the passengers fleeing the vehicle on foot after the pursuit ended at Ruben Salazar Park, according to the Times.

Prosecutors said that Kim used the door of his patrol car to knock the fleeing suspect to the ground. 

While Kim and Miramontes focused their attention on that passenger, another of the suspects got out of the driver’s side of the BMW and began to open fire on other officers at the scene, according to police records.

A shootout ensued that left the suspect and another passenger in the vehicle dead and two deputies along with a law enforcement technician wounded, the Times reported. 

Kim, 39, and Miramontes, 30, are accused of lying in their reports about what happened, but details about their official accounts or any alleged falsehoods therein were reportedly not available.

Kim is also charged with assault.

“Peace officers must do their job lawfully and truthfully,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement to the Times. “There is no place in law enforcement for officers who use illegal force and then lie to cover up their crime or the crime of another officer.”

A police spokesperson told the Times that both Kim and Miramontes have been relieved from their duties as deputies on the force. 

The former deputies are due in court on Thursday, the newspaper reported.