LOS ANGELES
A former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy has agreed to plead guilty to a federal felony offense for depriving a 23-year-old man of his civil rights in Compton in 2020, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
In a plea agreement filed this morning in federal court, Miguel Angel Vega, 33, of Corona, admitted that he falsely imprisoned the victim; and engaged in a vehicle pursuit with the victim still unlawfully detained in an LASD SUV, resulting in a traffic collision that injured the victim; and then filed false reports to cover up the deputy and his partner’s unlawful conduct.
Vega agreed to plead guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law, a crime that carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
(News Report Earlier This Year)
According to the plea agreement, on the afternoon of April 13, 2020, Vega and his then partner, Christopher Blair Hernandez, 37, were in uniform and on patrol in an LASD vehicle near Wilson Park in Compton as part of their official duties at LASD.
Vega and Hernandez saw two young Black males, one of whom Vega believed was associated with a street gang, outside a skateboard park enclosed by a tall wrought-iron fence within Wilson Park.
Vega and Hernandez got out of the SUV, approached the individuals, and ordered them to lift their shirts to search for firearms they did not possess.
From inside the enclosed skatepark, the victim, Jesus Alegria, began yelling at Vega and Hernandez to leave the Black males alone, according to police reports.
According to federal authorities, Alegria did not threaten Vega or Hernandez or any other approximately 10 to 15 people inside the skatepark, who likewise did not pose any danger to Vega or Hernandez.
Vega began yelling back at Alegria, and while they continued exchanging words, Vega challenged Alegria to a fight, according to the plea agreement.
Shortly thereafter, Vega directed Alegria to come to an opening in the skatepark fence. Vega then grabbed Alegria and confined him in the back of the SUV as Hernandez looked on.
According to the plea agreement, Vega detained Alegria in the SUV because Vega was angry that Alegria had told Vega and Hernandez to leave the Black males alone and wanted to teach Alegria a lesson.
Although Vega and Hernandez had ample time to do so, Alegria, was not handcuffed, his seatbelt was not secured, he was never told he was under arrest, nor was he informed of his rights at any time – all of this in violation of LASD policy.
Throughout the ongoing false imprisonment, Vega knew that he and Hernandez did not have any lawful basis to detain Alegria., the plea agreement states.
After leaving the park, Vega, who was still driving the SUV with Hernandez in the front passenger seat and Alegria confined in the backseat, continued to taunt and threaten Alegria., including telling Alegria that the deputies were going to drop off Alegria in gang territory where Alegria would receive a beating.
According to the plea agreement, while in the vehicle, Vega and Hernandez ignored Alegria multiple questions as to why he was being detained.
Vega decided to concoct a story that he and Hernandez were arresting Alegria for being under the influence of a stimulant as a pretext to justify their false imprisonment of Alegria.
To that end, Vega asked Alegria if he was taking any medications to signal to Hernandez that the deputies were going to fabricate and falsely allege that Alegria exhibited symptoms of being under the influence of a stimulant.
Vega did not believe that Alegria was under the influence of a stimulant. Because this purported basis for the false detention and arrest was fabricated, Vega and Hernandez never took any steps to determine whether Alegria exhibited any signs of being under the influence of a controlled substance.
While Vega and Hernandez continued driving with Alegria still confined in the back of the SUV, Vega saw a group of young males on bicycles, including one Vega believed had a look of surprise and fear on his face upon encountering the LASD deputies.
Believing the young male may possess a firearm, Vega stopped the SUV to let Hernandez get out of the vehicle and proceed on foot, and Vega began pursuing the bicyclist down an alley.
As Vega drove the SUV down the alley in pursuit, Vega crashed into a wall and another vehicle, causing Alegri to hit his head and sustain a cut above his right eye that later required stitches, the plea agreement states.
Following the collision, Vega removed Alegria from the patrol vehicle and told him to leave. Hernandez responded on foot to the alley shortly thereafter, and Vega told his partner that he had released Alegria.
Soon after, Alegria walked out of the alley and tried to get help from strangers at a nearby house, court documents state.
After the traffic collision, Vega reported over LASD radio that a person purportedly with a gun had fled through an alley, which prompted numerous LASD personnel to respond to the scene to set up a containment zone.
Even though Vega also reported the traffic collision over LASD radio, neither Vega during the radio calls nor Vega or Hernandez during a subsequent conversation with their supervising sergeant at the scene, initially disclosed that they had detained Alegria at the skatepark or that Alegria had been in the SUV during the collision in the alley.
It was only after Vega learned that Alegria had been independently detained on a neighboring street by another LASD deputy as the purported gun suspect that Vega informed the other deputies and his supervising sergeant that Alegria had been in the SUV during the crash.
When asked by the supervising sergeant why Alegria had been in the SUV at the time of the collision, Vega falsely told the sergeant that Alegria had been detained for being under the influence of a controlled substance.
While Alegria was at a hospital later in the day to receive treatment for the injuries he sustained from the collision, Hernandez spoke with another deputy who had escorted Alegria to the hospital.
Consistent with the plan concocted by Vega earlier in the day to fabricate a false basis for Alegria’s detention and arrest, Hernandez directed the deputy at the hospital to issue Alegria a citation for being under the influence of methamphetamine, even though Hernandez and Vega knew that this accusation was false, according to the plea agreement.
The deputy followed Hernandez’s direction and issued the citation.
Vega and Hernandez later authored two incident reports regarding the day’s events.
Vega admitted in the plea agreement that they intentionally included false, misleading, and ambiguous information in the reports to justify, legitimize, and ultimately cover up their unlawful conduct.
The first report falsely stated that Alegria appeared to be under the influence of a stimulant, that Alegria had threatened to harm people in the skatepark, as well as Vega and Hernandez, that a crowd of people was moving toward the LASD patrol vehicle as the defendants drove away after unlawfully detaining Alegria; and that, following the crash in the alley, Vega checked Alegria. for injuries, Alegria was placed in another patrol vehicle of an assisting LASD unit until paramedics arrived.
The second report falsely stated that Vega transferred Alegria to another patrol vehicle after the collision, which both Vega and Hernandez knew was false.
Hernandez pleaded guilty on July 24 to one count of conspiracy pursuant to a cooperation plea agreement. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 8. Hernandez is facing up to five years in prison
The FBI is investigating this matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Jamari Buxton and Brian R. Faerstein of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section are prosecuting this case.