Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor
SAN DIMAS - Bodycam footage was recently leaked to a Fox11 news reporter of a driver who spewed racist and potentially-slanderous statements against a San Dimas deputy.
Most of the interaction was caught on the deputy’s bodycam. While the department-wide roll out of bodycams for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has been a slow process, this deputy apparently had purchased his own bodycam to wear while on duty, according to Fox11 news reporter Bill Melugin. The incident unfolded on the eastbound side of West Covina Boulevard just west of Lone Hill Avenue outside of Life Pacific University, 1100 W. Covina Blvd. According to the bodycam timestamp, the incident unfolded April 23 just before 9:30 a.m. The female driver stopped by the San Dimas deputy immediately began recording him with her cell phone and almost immediately began calling the deputy a murderer. She protested the stop, claiming she was driving under the posted speed limit. The deputy agreed that she was driving within the speed limit and said he stopped her because she allegedly was using her cell phone while driving. “You’re threatening to kill me and my son,” the woman claimed in the video.
After a San Dimas Sheriff’s Station supervisor arrived to explain the traffic stop to the driver, she proceeded to call the deputy a “Mexican racist.”
“You’re always going to be a Mexican. You’ll never be white. You know that, right?” The woman told the deputy just before being let go after signing a citation. This reporter reached out to the San Dimas Sheriff’s Station, seeking a comment. All media inquiries were directed to the Sheriff’s Information Bureau which issued this statement: “We are aware of the video captured by one of our deputies. The person in the video filed a personnel complaint against the deputy for “discourtesy” and an active inquiry is being conducted. Due to the active complaint, we are unable to provide further comment regarding the supervisory inquiry. What we can say is peace officers are faced with situations like the one captured on this video daily, and they routinely respond with professionalism, compassion, and humility.” Apparently, social media sleuths were able to identify the woman. It is unclear how, but footage of the traffic stop had been leaked to the Internet showing the woman’s face unblurred. The fervor over her actions led to her former place of employment, Los Angeles Southwest College, to issue a statement regarding her identity being ousted. “An individual, who was the subject of a FOX News media report last night, May 3, was identified as possibly teaching at Los Angeles Southwest College. This individual has not been employed at the college since 2017,” according to a statement from the college. Until this reporter is able to independently verify the identity of the woman in the video, the name being publicized throughout the Internet will not be used here at this time. “This Deputy exemplifies the core values of our Department, his demeanor during this traffic stop is just an example of professionalism and patience our ... Deputies have,” According to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva in a social media statement. |
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