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In March and April 2018, two of the plaintiffs, deputies Louis Granados and Benjamin Zaredini, were "alarmed by the increasingly hostile and violent nature" of the Banditos' activities, the lawsuit states. And any time youre a Black man, somebody calling you a monkey, in my book, thats racism, Orange tells Knock LA. The pair demanded she immediately resign from her mentoring position, and she was removed the following day. While Deputy Granados encountered other deputies firing guns at a suspect and pulled over his vehicle, he was written up for misconduct by Diana Woodward. Gang culture is reinforced by older employees who reward newer recruits who subscribe to it. The Banditos gang has controlled the East Los Angeles station like inmates running a prison yard, the lawsuit says. I went to the trial for a day or two and the Deputy DA who was trying the case had no partner. Angelica Estrada, one of the few female associates of the Banditos and a woman who wielded tremendous influence at the station, "went over Mejia's head" to the captain at the time and then-Chief Bob Denham to block any discipline of the Banditos. Those tactics were immortalized in a mural of the logo in the East LA Station floor. Deputies Christopher Wargo, Benjamin Zaredini, Andrew Hernandez, and Eduardo Sanchez, who were also mentioned, were loaned out to other stations. Twenty-four are currently stationed in East L.A. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. It asserts that the special unit members "showed up just in time to kill the perpetrator before he could murder their fellow deputy.". Donate Now She previously covered the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, focusing on accountability stories and writing about failures by officials to comply with transparency laws. Here's Why It's Especially Dangerous To Hike SoCal Mountains Right Now, How 4 Words Upended A University's Journalism Program, And Stirred A Reckoning Over Race, What A Popular Yoga Teacher's Descent Into Conspiracy Theories Says About The 'Wellness To QAnon Pipeline', Ancient Lung Disease Strikes Countertop Cutters In LA. The gang also denied Zaredini and Lemus backup. Bandito FTOs would demand taxes, handing their trainees empty envelopes and telling them to fill them with money, sometimes up to $2,000, by the end of the day. In a conversation with LAist, the new sheriff acknowledges that, as an outsider, "I have my work cut out for me" in winning the support of the department's rank-and-file. In December 2018, Banditos "secretly removed the bullets from Deputy Zaredini's shotgun," the lawsuit claims. Subgroups? She said it's time the department take the elimination of deputy gang membership seriously.. Sheriff Alex Villanueva has downplayed the issue, saying problems associated with the groups are often the result of drunken deputies getting into fights and taking issue with those who refer to them as deputy gangs. Last month, Villanueva sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Board of Supervisors, demanding that they and others stop using the phrase. They have been broken up in accordance to the law, and constitutionally permissibly, he said. Call Them What You Will There've Been 18 (Yes, 18) In The LA Sheriff's Department, A Controversial East LA Sheriff's Station Logo Was Banned. Guadalupe Lopez started her career at LASD in 2003. Alene Tchekmedyian is an investigative reporter at the Los Angeles Times. Before this amendment, alleged members and associates of the gang included; Commander April Tardy; Captains Ernie Chavez (an alleged Vikings gang member), Richard Mejia, and Chris Perez; Lieutenants Eric Smitson, Anthony Easter, Edmundo Torres; Sergeant Angelica Estrada (AKA the Pink Hand); Rafael Rene Munoz (AKA Big Listo); Gregory Rodriguez (AKA G-Rod); David Silverio (AKA Silver); Michael Hernandez (AKA Bam Bam); Vincent Moran; Hector Soto Saavedra, who killed Paul Rea in 2019; Jeff Hamil; Jeff Chow; William Jaeger; Scott Chapman; Raymond Mendoza; Luis Carbajal; Braulio Robledo; Jonathan Rojas, who killed Anthony Vargas in 2018; Eldemira Para; Andrea Villa; Marc Elizondo; Nikolis Perez, who killed Anthony Vargas and Jorge Serrano in 2018; Kelly Porowsky; Woodrow Kim; Juan Sanchez; Aaron Abellano; Silvano Garcia; Joanna Macs Moran; Joanana Palombi; Jose Aceituno; Anthony Pacheco; Soraya Sanchez; Karla Sepulveda; Marcelo Ortega; Diana Woodward; Eduardo Muniz; Rebecca Cortez; Joe Mendoza; Erin Rosario; Jessica Santos; John Soria; Miguel Ortiz; Claudia Perez; Brian Goodwin; Manuel Palacios; Jodi Hutak; Pablo Partida; Noel Lopez; and Christopher Moore. The suit also claims Banditos encourage deputies to increase their arrest numbers by planting evidence on suspects. Members typically get matching tattoos and go by names such as the Grim Reapers and Jump Out Boys. Rodriguez was discharged from the department as a result of the charges, but later was given his job back and returned to the department. Dispatch refused to respond to her calls or provide backup. Lopez filed a complaint against LA County in 2014 and eventually settled for $1.5 million, funded by taxpayers. When she asked Wargo what was going on, she was told that she was a trainee and to mind her business. But he has also taken credit for addressing the problem by instituting a policy that prohibits deputies from joining groups that promote behavior that violates the rights of others. On March 8, 2012, Barsh filed a Policy of Equity (POE), a practice that prohibits discrimination against County employees on a variety of bases, on Lopezs behalf and told Captain Henry Romero about the Banditos threats and harassment. She was moved to the day shift in an attempt to alleviate the abuse she was facing, but still worked near FTO Valdez and Christopher Valente, who had been implicated in her complaint. LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles County Inspector General Max Huntsman has accused Sheriff Alex Villanueva of promoting a code of silence'' around secret societies within his department, but Villanueva calls the IG's actions purely politically driven and an attempt to undermine the department.''. The other plaintiff deputies continued to face harassment from Banditos associates. In fall of 2017, Munoz sent Raymond Mendoza, an alleged Banditos shot caller, to confront Deputy Zaredini about not being hostile enough to Deputy Alfred Gonzalez. The incident was the focus of two internal Sheriffs Department investigations one of which Villanueva has said led to the discipline of 26 employees as well as a report by the Office of Inspector General. At the time, then-interim Sheriff John Scott announced he would share the results of an investigation into claims of bullying by the Banditos, yet the probe has into that and other alleged cliques within the department. Deputy Zaredini was allegedly left without backup for most of the summer of 2018 under the direction of Munoz, Eldemira Parra, Andrea Villa, and Claudia Perez. Deputies who are members have Instead plaintiffs Oscar Escobedo, Art Hernandez, Mario Contreras, and Ariela Lemus were disciplined for charges stemming from the party at Kennedy Hall, effectively punishing them for being assaulted. Every weekday, you'll get fresh, community-driven stories that catch you up with our independent local news. He says that Lopez left California altogether in an attempt to leave the trauma behind. At at Civilian Oversight Commission meeting in May, Villanueva said the Banditos clique no longer exists at East L.A. station. During the course of the investigations, the complaint alleges multiple Banditos members and associates lied about their knowledge of the gang and said they did not see the attacks. She even contends that Hish manipulated her score in order to keep her from moving up in rank. On that shift Lopez saw Wargo purchase reports, meaning that Wargo would write arrest reports for other deputies as part of initiation into the gang. The sheriff said previously that he cracked down on the Banditos presence in East Los Angeles as one of his first acts upon being sworn in. Moore allegedly reported the attack directly to Banditos shot caller Raymond Mendoza. In the face of a drier future, that iconic piece of Americana is on its way out in Southern California. LASD does not appear to have disciplined anyone for the text exchange. At the end of the call he followed Lopez to her car. Content Warning: This series explicitly details acts of violence (including murder) carried out by law enforcement officials. alleging the existence of a criminal gang of deputies called the Banditos at the departments East L.A. Station. The complaint alleges that the Banditos have controlled scheduling, assignments, and promotions at the East Los Angeles Station until relatively recently. But her attorney, Gregory Smith, says the damage was done. Rodriguez told Contreras that he was going to be assigned to ride along with Munoz. She's The sheriffs department declined to comment on the allegations. And that was on purpose because they had failed in their job to lead the station.. opened an investigation Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Deputy cliques in L.A. 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What are you going to do? On December 23, 2011, Deputy Eduardo Sanchez, another Banditos associate, swore at Lopez and demanded that she meet up with him. There were sexual implications to his request and she told him that she would not meet up with him alone. The same crew also allegedly hatched a plan to overload deputies who did not obey the Banditos with emergency calls. The FBI Deputy Lemus was stormed by Bandito associate Rebecca Cortez at a County detention facility. As she was completing a victim interview, Hernandez began cursing at her. There are 30 alleged members of the Executioners operating from the Compton station. Those who are not Banditos allegedly fail to stop them, according to Miller, or engage in covering up their wrongdoing. David Infante was a lieutenant as recently as 2019. Every weekday, you'll get fresh, community-driven stories that catch you up with our independent local news. The lawsuit also alleges that the plaintiff deputies have been continually harassed through the filing of the amendment. The entire leadership of East L.A. station was turned over, Villanueva said in a social media broadcast last fall. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva was elected on the promise of reforming the scandal-plagued sheriffs department. This method of punishment is known as freeway therapy. Zaredinis transfer was allegedly denied in order to initiate another investigation into him for being stern with the trainee of Regulators associate Deputy Karla Sepulveda, resulting in a two-day suspension. She was contacted by Lascono again, who told Lopez to report to work on August 11. Some of these goups have been accused of violence and harassment of both residents and colleagues. On September 26, 2018, Deputies Munoz, Silverio, Rodriguez, and Moran apparently planned to attack Deputy Gonzales in order to make an example out of him. Deputy gangs have a significant impact on the operation of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, and East Los Angeles Station is the clearest example. Denham was later promoted to assistant sheriff by Sheriff Villanueva, and retired in 2019. Will Orange County's Fledgling Clean Power Agency Survive? Rodriguez was rehired despite being charged with falsifying the police report concerning the unlawful detainment and beating of Christopher Gray. Many who are not recruited go along with the gangs requirements for fear of retaliation. Patrelli instead scheduled a meeting with Lopez and Division Commander Henry Romero, who had been her captain at East LA. Cerise Castle | April 1, 2021 Part of A Deputies based at the East L.A. station "have generated an excessive amount of stops and arrests in the community because of the pressure from the Banditos to inflate numbers, to satisfy illegal arrest quotas," the suit alleges. Gonzalez said under oath that in the summer of 2013, shortly after being given the day off and mentioning plans to travel to Hawaii, she received a text message sent to a group she was in with Deputy Jose Rauno. Sign up for our daily newsletters Members have a common tattoo on their legs of a skeleton with a bushy mustache wearing a sombrero and bandolier holding a pistol, all of which are sequentially numbered. Before joining The Times in 2016, she reported on crime and policing for the Glendale News-Press and Burbank Leader. More LA Sheriffs Officials Accused of Misconduct in Banditos Murakami instructed Wolak to uphold the suspension on Villanuevas orders. The Banditos of the East Los Angeles Sheriffs Station seemed not only to embrace the tradition of terrorizing surrounding communities, but celebrate the LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. . On social media, the deputies have been mocked as rats.. It says about 30 members and prospects work at the East L.A. station, adding the others work elsewhere or have retired. Hish told her that Gonzalez had allegedly hazed a deputy, which she denies. A new policy is meaningless if you dont actually enforce it, said Miller, the attorney representing the deputies. One deputy alleges in a complaint against the County that activities like fundraisers, training parties, and staff barbecues at the East LA station must be roundtabled by the Banditos. Instead, it issued this statement: Sheriff Alex Villanueva was the first sheriff in the history of LASD to implement a strict policy prohibiting cliques and sub-cultures, and he has repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to transparency and accountability.. The deputies who filed the lawsuit include seven men and one woman. For the latest national news from NPR and our live radio broadcast, visit Zaredini did not report the incident for fear of retaliation by the gang. Smitson, Perez, and Sergeant Estrada informed the Banditos that Granados and Zaredini had blown the whistle. GET THE BEST OF LAIST IN YOUR INBOXSign up for our daily newsletter to receive the latest on local politics, food, culture and the absurdities of L.A. life. Those 36 individuals would simply reflect general transfers, Chavez responded. 2023 Southern California Public Radio - All Rights Reserved, assertions made in legal claims filed in March and May, A Los Angeles Family Seeks Answers And Accountability After Black Mom Dies In Childbirth, A Brief History Of Why It Does Occasionally Snow In LA. The plaintiffs originally filed claims in 2019, stating they had been attacked, beaten, and denied backup as a result of refusing to cooperate with the gang. Aceituno recently did the same thing again and received no consequences from East LA Captain Richard Mejia, according to the complaint. If she didnt comply, she wouldnt pass her probationary period and it could be extended indefinitely. Oct. 3, 2019: This article was updated to include Undersheriff Murakami's denial that he is a member of the Cavemen. Cliques? 3:20 p.m.: This article was updated to note that the Sheriff's Dept. SEE MORE OF OUR COVERAGE ON LA'S DEPUTY GANGS: Our news is free on LAist. Despite ongoing litigation related to the Banditos, the gang appears confident that they can operate with impunity, and multiply. Of Supervisors, demanding that they and others stop using the phrase bullets from Deputy Zaredini 's shotgun, the! Plaintiff deputies have been continually harassed through the filing of the call he followed Lopez to her calls or backup. 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