Los Angeles County deputies attempted to cover up an incident in which a sheriff knelt on the head of a handcuffed Latino inmate for three minutes, according to internal records published by the Los Angeles Times.
Department officials were concerned about the optics of the kneeling, “given its nature and its similarities to the widely publicized use of force against George Floyd”, wrote a commander who criticized the cover-up in an internal review of the force.
Those officials decided not to file criminal charges against the inmate, who had punched a bailiff in the face, to avoid drawing attention to the incident, according to Commander Allen Castellano’s report.
Later, Castellano was subject to an administrative investigation.
The incident in March 2021 occurred at a time of intense writing utinium from the agency over allegations of controversial shootings and resistance to supervision by Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
Less than two months earlier, the California Attorney General had announced an investigation into whether sheriffs violate usually the constitutional rights of individuals.
A spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department said that Villanueva learned of the incident in October and immediately ordered a criminal investigation into the officer, who was relieved of his duty .
Eli Vera, a commander who oversees the judicial services where the incident occurred, said Villanueva saw the video on an aide’s desk within days of the incident.
“Under normal circumstances, I would expect the Sheriff’s Department to have prosecuted this case,” said Inspector General Max Huntsman, who oversees the agency, referring to the decision not to press charges against the inmate.
“The fact that they did not do so raises a red flag on the possibility that the motivation was to prevent bad press as alleged,” he said, adding that the incident should be investigated by an outside agency.
The incident occurred on the morning of 10 March 2021, two days after jury selection began in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who would be convicted of murdering Floyd by kneeling on his neck.
At the San Fernando Palace of Justice, officers were conducting routine searches of a group of inmates prior to their court appearances, internal records show.
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Two of the inmates were talking and the officers told them to shut up.
While the couple continued to talk and laugh, Officer Douglas Johnson ordered one of them, Enzo Escalante, to stop and face the wall, according to Johnson’s incident report.
Escalante, aged 24 years old, was waiting trial on multiple charges, including murder.
Security video obtained by the Los Angeles Times shows Johnson walking behind Escalante down a hallway before pushing him into a wall.
Escalante turns around and punches Johnson in the face several times.
The second inmate approaches them and is restrained by two other bailiffs. Johnson and other agents throw Escalante to the ground and place him face down.
Twenty seconds into the fight, Johnson puts his knee on Escalante’s head.
Approximately 24 seconds later, an officer, one of the four hovering over Escalante, handcuffs him.
After that, Escalante lies motionless, his hands handcuffed behind his back and appears to comply. Still, Johnson keeps his knee on Escalante’s head for three more minutes.
Records show Escalante was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, including bruising to both ears. and neck abrasions.
Johnson, who could not be reached for comment, played a major role in a photo-sharing scandal after basketball superstar Kobe Bryant and eight other people were killed in a helicopter crash.
He said he had a legitimate reason to take the photos of the place of the accident, which were shared among the officers.
In the weeks and months that followed, Johnson’s use of force underwent various levels of internal review.
Sheriff’s officials strongly disapproved of Johnson’s tactics, and a sergeant determined that Johnson applied pressure to the inmate’s head during an “unreasonable amount of time” and one lieutenant called the restraint tactic unnecessary as the inmate “no longer offered any resistance”.
Castellano, the commander, was more critical, writing that Johnson’s decision to physically confront Escalante in the hallway “placed other officers and inmates in a dangerous situation” and that Johnson could have ignored the provocative language by Escalante to avoid escalating the encounter.
He also wrote that Johnson kept pressure on Escalante’s head even though the inmate did not resist. He said that two supervisory agents did not intervene.
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