The Los Angeles County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission received more evidence from its attorney Friday, June 10, that a violent gang of sheriff’s deputies known as the Banditos controls virtually every aspect of the East L.A. Station, including scheduling and training, and intimidates those who refuse to follow orders.
Attorneys have conducted multiple interviews with witnesses about the Banditos’ activities, but all have refused to testify publicly, even with promises of anonymity, Bert H. Deixler, special counsel to the commission, said during the second public hearing of the ongoing gang investigation. The commission’s first hearing was held in May.
Witnesses are afraid to testify because they fear “career suicide” and physical harm, Deixler said. He then provided details of what witnesses would have shared with the commission had they been brave enough to testify.
Rogue deputy gang
“One witness with the familiarity of the operation of East L.A. has recounted the control of the station by the Banditos and how by control of scheduling and assignments the Banditos have superseded the official hierarchy,” he said. “The witness has said the behavior of Banditos mimics the behavior of criminal street gangs in their language, a discrimination against Blacks, against women and non-Mexican Latinos.”
The witness also alleges the Banditos control training, assignments and duties at the East L.A. Station, where members are forced to pay expenses as directed by the gang, Deixler said.
“The witness is aware of assaults upon deputies by Banditos, withheld back-up (support), demeaning and derogatory statements over the radio,” Deixler said. “Written statements on station walls naming deputies as weak or punks and removing lug nuts from the tires of disfavored officers.”
Another deputy corroborated those claims by describing gang tattoos on “shot callers,” wrongful arrests to project satisfactory statistics at the station, and assaults on deputies who have fallen out of favor, according to Deixler.
Additionally, a ranking LASD officer who has information about a deputy-on-deputy shooting has refused to testify because of fear of retaliation from Sheriff Alex Villanueva, he added.
The Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. However, Villanueva has previously described the commission’s actions on social media as “wildly unconstitutional and bizarre theatrics.”
Subpoena refused
Commission members said they are particularly troubled that Matthew Burson, a division chief who oversaw the Sheriff’s Department’s Professional Standards Division before his recent retirement, refused to comply with a subpoena that required him to testify Friday.
While Burson publicly professed transparency in investigating subversive groups, logs show that privately in November 2018, he canceled interviews with the commission’s Office of Inspector General to escape questions about the gang at the East L.A. Station, according to Deixler.
Deixler added that information from a witness indicates there was a Dec. 3, 2018, meeting between Burson and Villanueva.
The commission voted Friday to compel Burson to comply with its subpoena and testify about the relevance of the meeting or face contempt charges in Los Angeles County Superior Court that could result in him being jailed.
Burson’s refusal to testify is dismaying and telling, said Sean Kennedy, chairman of the commission.
“We hear that the LASD official assigned by Villanueva to lead the investigation of deputy gangs … has failed to appear as required by law, and has really made no arrangements to explain why he has not appeared,” he said. “That the former head of the Professional Standards Division would conduct himself in this manner regarding a subpoena suggests that the department has something to hide.”
The commission also voted to subpoena Villanueva; his chief of staff, Larry Del Mese; Undersheriff Tim Murakami; and Central Patrol Division Chief April L. Tardy, who is responsible for East Los Angeles, to appear at the next hearing on July 1.
However, Kennedy isn’t optimistic they will show up, noting that Villanueva has refused previous requests to testify.
“It is time to hear from the sheriff, and Undersheriff Murakami and the other LASD officials who have the authority to address deputy gangs,” Kennedy said. “The public has a right to know what is going on in this department. And this behavior is completely unacceptable.”