Posted on 02/09/2014 5:21:27 PM PST by DariusBane
The lawsuit claims the confrontation began when the alleged victim's father accidentally dropped a cigarette onto the ground
A Southern California man is accusing Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies in a federal civil rights lawsuit of attacking him and using a Taser on his genitals while his mother watched.
Daniel Johnson, 26, filed the lawsuit in January against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department after deputies allegedly threw him to the ground and attacked him for asking if he could pick up his father's cigarette to avoid a fine.
Johnson was cooking dinner at his mother's Altadena home on Dec. 26, 2012, when a man knocked on the door to tell Johnson his father was being ticketed outside for putting out a cigarette on the ground, according to the filed complaint.
Police Recover $200K Stolen Race Car The complaint describes Johnson's father as a 58-year-old disabled man who walks with a cane and often drops things because of nerve damage in his hands.
LA Sheriff's "Deputy Abdulfattah," as named in the complaint, explained to Johnson he was giving his father a $1,000 ticket and community service for littering.
Johnson offered to pick the cigarette up from the ground, when Abdulfattah told Johnson, "I can write you a ticket too if you want," according to the complaint.
"I asked if it would be possible for me to just pick it up," Johnson told NBC4. "We don't have $1,000 to pay that ticket."
Johnson's mother came outside as Johnson began to walk away, until the other deputy, named in the complaint as "Deputy Russell," allegedly grabbed Johnson from behind and tried to slam him against the patrol car and into a concrete post, the complaint states.
Arrest Made After Dog Strapped With Fireworks Johnson's parents asked the deputies to "leave him alone" because he "hasn't done anything wrong."
Russell, according to the complaint, allegedly put Johnson in a "full nelson hold" with his arms under Johnson's armpits and hand behind Johnson's head.
At the same time Russell then allegedly took Johnson to the ground, Abdulfattah allegedly hit Johnson's father in the face, according to the complaint.
While Johnson was held to the ground by Russell, Abdulfattah used a Taser on Johnson's genitals multiple times, the complaint stated.
"He was definitely point blank," Johnson said. "He was right above me as he Tased me, so there's no mistake that he was trying to Tase me in my genitalia."
His mother said the deputy stared at her while she screamed.
"He's looking directly at me every time he pulls that trigger, and at one point my son says, 'Mom, I'm OK," Johnson's mother, Rose Gonzales, told NBC4. "So at that point, I realize this guy is doing this because I am reacting."
Nightclub Offers $50K "Wolf of Wall Street" VIP Package Johnson could "smell his flesh burning from the tases" and was screaming in pain, according to the complaint.
Johnson told NBC4 he begged the deputies to stop and repeatedly told them he was not resisting. He was eventually arrested for battery on a police officer, though he maintains in the complaint he never engaged in any physical contact with the deputies.
Abdulfattah allegedly told Johnson to "shut up" when Johnson said his father needed his inhaler, the complaint stated.
LA County Sheriff's Department officials would not comment on the case except to describe one of the deputies in question as "the best deputy in the division."
Johnson, a graduate of University of California, Berkeley with no criminal history, said the battery charges were never filed and the case was dropped. He said he just hopes audio recordings or video exist of the confrontation.
"When there's nothing to verify what actually happened, it becomes a state where it's their word versus ours," Johnson said.
Cigarette dropped by the father OUTSIDE THEIR HOME.
Cops need to be jailed, fired, sued.
Sheriffs department says that the deputy doing the tazing is "one of the best deputies in the department".
So the blue wall of silence strikes again. Cronies and thugs protecting each other. We can only assume they have to as each has dirt on the other.
It is time for sunlight to disinfect law enforcement.
Remember this whenever they say the don’t have enough cops
Right, need to raise the sales tax to hire more cops. Call response time is unworkable.
But they can creep around neighborhoods catching people flicking cigs. $1000 fine. Then taz anybody who protests.
if it was dropped on their property they can own everything formerly owner by Deputy Abdulfattah andd a million bucks to boot.
the deputy has to prove......that the cigarette was on public property and THEN SOME.
Abdulfattah a homegrown jihadist sheriff?
He is being protected by the institution he works for. Why?
Arrest Made After Dog Strapped With Fireworks Johnson's parents asked the deputies to "leave him alone" because he "hasn't done anything wrong."
Is it just me, or...
You have to be careful with the copy and paste functions. Sometimes you get some lagniappe (a little extra).
Wait.... It’s a $1,000 fine for dropping a cigarette....!
My word.... We are sheep....every city council member should be tarred and feathered...
I can certainly understand a small fine for littering...but the son offered to pick it up....
Gee, why didn’t they just cane the father....
I know it.
Lesson learned. I let the batteries go dead in my disambiguator. Forgot to plug it in last night.
Good old boys on the beat have morphed into jack-booted thugs.
I liked that one. Seemed to fit the story and whadda nickname!
ping
I just don’t get why anybody takes cops seriously anymore. I mean people have to vote to fund them. Somebodies pulling the lever. It ain’t me.
I also don’t understand why people consider Police work to be an honorable profession.
Finally, I don’t understand why anybody would sign up to do the job.
Yeah, any cops out their I am talking to you. Care to splain to me why you are “good guys with a few bad apples”?
Police need to make MAJOR institutional changes that only they can make.
I despise littering but a. $1000 fine for a single offense (of ANY petty crime/infraction)is RIDICULOUS; b. the idea that this resulted in violence and arrest speaks again to the poor training and unprofessional demeanor of these cops.
If all they have to do is ticket old men for littering, get rid of them, because your city/town has no problems. If you DO still have problems get the LEOs working on them.
“Why?”
that is what institutions do, protect their own.
hes threatened civil rights proceedings against them should they dishonor of of allahs followers?
ally ally ackbar free
Police and Sheriffs are public institutions. They operate at the pleasure of the tax payers who vote for taxes.
Who is still pulling the lever for these clowns?
I think the 1st couple cops gottem, Dano...
There’s really not must left to say about LEOs. Sorry for the good ones left who actually believe in serving and protecting. Maybe that thin blue line needs to be crossed if you really believe in serving and protecting.
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