Eight L.A sheriff's deputies relieved of duty following alleged attempted cover-up of beating of trans teacher [View all]

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Eight L.A sheriff's deputies relieved of duty following alleged attempted cover-up of beating of trans teacher
The federal investigation into the deputies conduct stems from an incident in 2023 where a LA County Sheriff's deputy pulled over a teacher leaving his high school after he reportedly flipped him off while driving by

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-12-25/several-deputies-relieved-of-duty-amid-federal-probe-into-beating


The incident that sparked the federal investigation occurred on Feb. 10, 2023 when Brock was leaving his high school teaching job. Brock told the Times that he saw a deputy in what he described as a heated conversation with a woman on the side of the rode. Brock got in his car to leave and driving by the deputy he flashed his middle finger out the window not thinking the deputy would see it, Brock told the Times.

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Prosecutors said in last week's court filings that Benza abandoned his response to a domestic disturbance call to follow Brock after he saw him flip him off. Prosecutors also allege that Benza called another deputy over the radio saying he was going pull someone over who flipped him off, the Times reported citing court documents.

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Federal prosecutors allege that following widespread media coverage of the incident Benza texted a group chat with two other deputies saying they had to delete text conversations on their personal cellphones in anticipation of a federal investigation. Three days later one of the deputies in the chat messaged the group saying a sergeant had instructed them to “toss the phone,” which federal said was a directive to delete the data from the phone, the Times reported.

In the plea agreement signed last week, Benza admitted to lying in his report and said that a sergeant had written "substantive portions" of it for him. In the plea, he also admitted that he lied when he told federal investigators he never saw anyone flip him off, as well as saying Brock bit him, which a medical examination of Benza revealed was not true.

Benza also admitted to discussing the report with other deputies, something he had initially claimed he had not done. All charges against Brock were eventually dropped and he has since filed a lawsuit against the LA County Sheriff's Office in federal court alleging false imprisonment, civil rights violations, and assault and battery.