Multiple L.A. sheriff’s deputies relieved of duty as feds probe beating of trans teacher

At least eight Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies have been relieved of duty amid a federal investigation into the beating of a transgender man last year in a 7-Eleven parking lot, according to several law enforcement sources.

Last week, nearly two years after the incident, Deputy Joseph Benza III agreed to plead guilty to one felony civil rights violation in federal court. In his plea agreement, Benza admitted that he lied to the FBI about the incident and alleged that numerous other deputies and sergeants helped obstruct the investigation and cover up the misconduct.

After confirming Dec. 18 that Benza had been taken off the job, the next day the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said “multiple” other deputies have also been relieved of duty.

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Joseph Benza III, 36, was charged late Tuesday with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law for what prosecutors alleged was a 2023 assault on Emmett Brock, then a 23-year-old teacher on his way home from work.

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Sheriff’s officials would not specify how many employees have been sidelined, but half a dozen sources in the department told The Times that eight people — including several sergeants — were relieved of duty. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

After news of the criminal case against Benza, 36, was announced last week, he made an initial appearance in federal court and was released on $50,000 bond, a U.S. Department of Justice spokesman told The Times.

Benza is due back in court Jan. 17, when he is expected to plead guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.

His attorney, Tom Yu, previously told The Times that he supported his client’s decision to take accountability and planned to ask the court for probation.

The incident that sparked the federal case happened Feb. 10, 2023. That morning, 23-year-old Emmett Brock was leaving his high school teaching job when he spotted a deputy who he said appeared to be in a heated conversation with a woman on the side of the road.

Emmett Brock, then 23, was driving home from his job as a teacher in 2023 when he was beaten by a deputy outside a 7-Eleven.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

As he drove by, Brock previously told The Times, he threw up his middle finger, thinking the deputy would not see it.

A few seconds later, he said, he spotted a patrol cruiser following close behind him without its lights or sirens on, mirroring his every turn.

Initially, Benza’s lawyer said the person Brock passed on the side of the road was not his client but another officer, probably from another agency. He said Benza never saw Brock flip him off — and Benza’s own incident report made no mention of it.

In last week’s court filings, prosecutors said Benza abandoned his response to a domestic disturbance call when he saw Brock flip him off. At one point, prosecutors said, Benza called another deputy, and said he planned to stop someone who’d flipped him off and that he intended to use force.

After driving nearly two miles with the deputy following behind him, Brock stopped at a 7-Eleven and stepped out of his car. Video of the incident shows that the deputy approached him and said, “I just stopped you,” offering no explanation as to why.

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“No, you didn’t,” Brock replied, according to an audio recording from the deputy’s body camera. Federal prosecutors said Benza then “violently body slammed” Brock into the ground.

For the next three minutes, Brock struggled and screamed as the deputy held him down and punched him in the head.

“You’re going to f—ing kill me,” he shouted. “Help! Help! Help! I’m not resisting!”

Afterward, Brock was taken to the Norwalk sheriff’s station lockup, where he alleged staff asked to see his genitals before deciding which holding cell to send him to. He was initially booked on three felonies and one misdemeanor, and later released on $100,000 bail.

When Benza put together the incident report, he asked several sergeants whether he should mention the real reason he started following Brock and was told to omit it, according to his plea agreement.

In his report, the deputy said it appeared Brock was “about to throw a punch,” so Benza struck first. During the struggle, the deputy’s report claimed, Brock “attempted to rip my skin from my hand” by repeatedly biting him. However, medical reports from the scene and later from the hospital did not mention seeing signs of bite marks.

According to federal prosecutors, in the days after The Times and other news outlets reported on the case in July 2023, Benza sent a group text to two other deputies about the media coverage, and the three of them discussed the need to delete text messages on their personal cellphones in light of the anticipated federal investigation.

Three days after the initial group text, one of the other deputies texted the group to relay a sergeant’s instruction for Benza to “toss the phone,” which federal prosecutors said was a directive to delete data from the device.

Before the other deputy was interviewed by federal investigators this year, prosecutors said, he and Benza discussed lying to authorities to explain their messages about the sergeant’s order to “dump” the phone.

When federal investigators interviewed Benza, he claimed he had not seen anyone flip him off, alleged again that Brock had bitten him, and said he had not substantively discussed the contents of his incident report with anyone else while he drafted it.

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In his plea agreement, Benza admitted to lying. He discussed the contents of the report, he acknowledged, and said that a sergeant actually wrote “substantive portions” of it for him.

The FBI is still investigating, authorities said last week.

Since The Times first reported on the case, Los Angeles prosecutors have dismissed the case against Brock and a judge agreed to declare him innocent. This year, he filed a lawsuit in federal court, alleging false imprisonment, civil rights violations and assault and battery. The case is pending.