Deputy abandons domestic violence call to body slam man who flipped him off, feds say
A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was supposed to respond to a domestic violence call — but chose to follow a man who flipped him off instead, then beat him in retaliation, according to federal prosecutors.
The man had a right to flash his middle finger at the deputy, as the expression is protected by the First Amendment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said Dec. 18.
Joseph Benza III, 36, has agreed to plead guilty to using excessive force during the February 2023 beating, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
He was charged with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law on Dec. 17, prosecutors said.
“It is deeply troubling that a member of our department, who has since been relieved of duty, violated the trust placed in them to uphold the law by abusing their authority,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna said in a statement.
An attorney wasn’t listed for Benza, who is from Corona, in court records the afternoon of Dec. 19. Corona, in Riverside County, is about a 50-mile drive southeast from Los Angeles.
While working as a deputy assigned to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Norwalk station, Benza was heading a report of domestic violence in Whittier as the man, identified as “E.B.,” drove past him, according to prosecutors.
The 23-year-old stuck his middle finger up at Benza, who prosecutors said then “abandoned the domestic violence call.”
Benza trailed the man in his patrol car for an estimated 1.8 miles, according to prosecutors.
During the drive, the man called 911 to report being followed, prosecutors said.
Then the man stopped in a parking lot, where Benza also pulled over and activated his vehicle’s overhead lights, according to prosecutors.
Benza walked over to him as he got out of his car and “violently” body slammed the man onto the pavement before pummeling him, the plea agreement says.
He got on top of the man, punching his head and face as the man screamed: “You’re going to kill me!”; “I can’t breathe!”; and “Please stop!,” according to the filing.
Benza also “pressed (his) face into the pavement,” the plea agreement says.
The man, who is transgender and “weighed about half as much as Benza,” was left with a concussion, contusions and cuts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Benza tried to hide the use of excessive force in an incident report, in which he wrote that he pulled the man over for an air freshener fixed onto his rearview mirror, prosecutors said. This was a lie, according to prosecutors.
Benza also lied when he wrote the man bit his hand, hard enough to break skin, and cited him with criminal mayhem, according to prosecutors.
The man, Emmett Brock, sued Benza in August 2023, saying that after he was taken into custody, staff at the sheriff’s department’s Norwalk station asked whether he had a penis after he mentioned he’s transgender, NBC News reported.
His lawsuit says he was taken to a bathroom by a female employee who examined his genital area, according to the outlet.
The civil case filed by Brock, who works as a teacher, will go to trial next October, his attorney Tom Beck told NBC News.
In the criminal case, Benza is accused of lying to federal authorities during the investigation.
The FBI is continuing to investigate, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“This senseless assault and subsequent attempted cover-up are an affront to our system of justice,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in the news release.
This story was originally published December 19, 2024 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Deputy abandons domestic violence call to body slam man who flipped him off, feds say."
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