How Sheriffs Took Advantage of the disadvantage
A brief true story about how sheriffs behavior during a DUI stop became physically and mentally brutal
Law enforcement is supposed to protect and serve the community but so many of the officer personnel have become more than that and less of what the badge represents. Many due to their ill behavior can be labeled as bullies for one reason or another.
Recently during a DUI stop in Palmdale, a suspect was repeatedly beaten, punched, and stunned with a gun by sheriffs. Excessive force was rendered and not necessary. A bystander’s video camera captured one Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy hitting the man multiple times during a DUI investigation and it was posted on social media showing at least one sheriff beating on the man in the parking lot of a liquor store.
If the man was intoxicated, his behavior had to be impaired to a degree so why was excessive force applied, especially in the company of multiple law enforcement officers? This is like beating a dog when it is down or beating a dead horse to death. It was all an overkill, literally.
Samuel Chavez Reyes, 35, was arrested and charged with two misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest. Thus far the sheriff's department has been slow in releasing information about the incident and justification of their action has not been revealed.
The video showed how two deputies attempted to detain Reyes in the front seat of a parked car and how they were halfway inside his vehicle. Mr. Reyes's visibility in the vehicle was obscured by the officers while another officer was seen rushing over. Seconds later, this officer was seen swinging his arm and punching someone presumably Mr. Reyes at least eight times while another deputy ran over and watched. The next thing seen in the video was Mr. Reyes lying on the ground beside the car, surrounded by six deputies. Several piled on top of him, while another deputy sat on him punching him several times.
In addition to the video, there were eyewitnesses, one was a lady who sat in the driver’s seat of the car as three bystanders watched a few feet away. Later, this lady was handcuffed and led away along with Mr. Reyes being led away handcuffed by three deputies with his feet tied together, his shirt ripped and his pants pulled down.
Note, all this for a DUI? Come on, was this necessary? Why was his pants pulled down at all? What kind of sick minds would do this? These deputies were not only bullies but perverted. They need to be held accountable for their inhumane behavior, be sued and fired so they cannot do this to another.
According to the bystanders, this excessive force by the deputies was not justified in any manner as the deputy pulled up and rushed to the car and started punching Mr. Reyes mostly in the head. It was also noted that the deputy used a stun gun inside and outside the car.
In conclusion, Mr. Reyes filed a lawsuit and according to his attorney, the video conveyed the amount of force used was unwarranted. The Lancaster sheriff’s station’s community advisory committee conveyed their utter disgust from what they saw on the video while a community activist working with a coalition of advocacy groups is demanding that Lancasters and Palmdale end their contracts with the Sheriff's Department. Transparency, accountability, and qualified immunity need to be reckoned with.
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