First up on Fox: The lawyer said The Endangered of Los Angeles The chief deputy district attorney broke his silence Wednesday after police released video from a 2021 arrest that led to a $10,000 out-of-court civil settlement.
“The video shows that Mr. Iniguez was wrongfully arrested without 100% suspicion,” Iniguez’s attorney, Glenn Jonas, told Fox News Digital. “He was lucid, calm, direct and in complete control.”
Azusa police stopped Iñiguez’s then-fiancé, who was driving the couple home from a wedding.
A still image taken from jailhouse surveillance video shows Los Angeles Chief Deputy District Attorney Joseph Iniguez making a phone call from lockup after his arrest for public intoxication in 2021. (Azusa Police Department)
Although the fiancée was handcuffed, she was not charged and the public intoxication case against Iñiguez was eventually dropped. However, while investigating the incident, investigators found evidence that led to 11 unrelated felony charges against Diana Terán, another top aide to Gascón.
In my eyes Mr. Iniguez is a hero, he admitted to a false arrest and used it to protect the good citizens of Azusa who are now protected with body worn cameras because of him.
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“I would hope we all try to protect his fiancée under these circumstances,” Jonas said. “In my book Mr. Iniguez is a hero, he took a false arrest and used it to protect the good citizens of Azusa who are now protected with body worn cameras because of him.”
Iniguez recorded the incident on his cellphone. At the time, Azusa police did not have bodycams.
Joseph Iniguez and Jorge Gascon attend the Reform LA Jails Summit + Day Party: Mental Health Matters on November 09, 2019 in Pasadena, California. (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Patrisse Cullors)
“Without body worn cameras, more innocent citizens will face false arrests and defamation,” Jonas said.
“You stopped the wrong person, let me tell you that,” Iniguez is heard telling officers in the video.
“That’s not right,” he says. “That’s why when they talk about this Law enforcement And just like our interactions with law enforcement — he did the right thing tonight, and drove me over. We were at a wedding.”
After placing the driver in handcuffs, the officer told Iniguez he was also under arrest. (Azusa Police Department)
Iñiguez also urged authorities to check his license plate, which could tell them who he works for. Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
“Run our plates, and see what you get,” he said. “Honestly. I’m not saying anything, just see what you get.”
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He admits to drinking at the wedding and repeatedly interrupts the officer questioning his fiancée.
During the encounter, Iñiguez urged his fiancée not to cooperate with authorities, Possible violations of DA policy and state law.
An officer leads Joseph Iñiguez, Jorge Gascón’s right-hand man, to a cell after he was stopped for public intoxication in 2021. (Azusa Police Department)
Iniguez had sued Azusa over his arrest, alleging federal civil rights violations, and last year he received $10,000 in compensation that critics described as a “nuisance pay.”
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According to Jonas, Iñiguez donated the money to “a nonprofit that advocates for modern methods of constitutional policing.”
On Tuesday, the Azusa Police Department said in a statement that its officers fully complied with state law and internal policies.
Iniguez was accused of repeatedly obstructing an Azusa police officer who was attempting to question his then-fiancée after a traffic stop. (Azusa Police Department)
“The City of Azusa and Chief (Rocky) Wenrich stand firmly behind our staff and the decisions they made during (Iniguez’s) arrest,” the department said.
Gascón’s office declined to comment on the matter.
Iñiguez has also come under criticism in recent weeks, when the District Attorney’s Office said that remove both He led the prosecution in a child murder trial before being convicted in a conflict of interest case involving Teran. He later stepped down and remained on the case even after it was transferred to a unit linked to Teran.
