LA County Sheriff’s Department accused of excessive force as newly released video shows man yelling ‘you’re gonna kill me’ during arrest

By Cheri Mossburg and Taylor Romine, CNN

(CNN) — Newly released video shows a Southern California man yelling, “you’re gonna kill me” during his violent arrest by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy in February.

In footage provided by Emmett Brock’s attorney in which surveillance video is edited to be synched with audio from the deputy’s body camera, Brock, 24, is shown being thrown to the ground by the deputy seconds after exiting his car at a convenience store. Brock’s attorney also provided unedited video from the deputy’s body-worn camera, but images are mostly obscured throughout the incident.

Brock told CNN that on February 10, he was leaving work and driving to an appointment but decided to stop at a 7-Eleven in Whittier. On the way, he said he witnessed Deputy Joseph Benza “behaving in an aggressive manner” toward a woman. The deputy was gesturing wildly, and appeared irate, he said.

When Brock drove past, he “flipped him off casually” and continued driving, he said. He then noticed Benza started following him for several blocks in a residential area, he said. Brock added he did not see any lights or sirens.

He said he called 911 because he was confused with what was happening and was concerned for his safety, and the dispatcher said if there were no lights and sirens, he could continue on as normal.

Brock continued to the 7-Eleven and parked in front of the store, where Benza confronted him, he said. Benza did not identify himself but told him, “I stopped you,” which Brock said confused him after what the 911 dispatcher had said about not needing to stop if there were no lights or sirens. He replied, “No you didn’t” and moved toward the store when Benza grabbed him and threw him on the ground.

In the video, the deputy approaches Brock and the pair exchange a few words. In the clip, no explanation for the confrontation can be heard. The deputy says, “Come here. I just stopped you” as he approaches Brock. Brock replies, “No, you didn’t.”

Less than 10 seconds after first approaching him, the deputy throws Brock to the ground.

The two men struggle in the parking lot, with the deputy on top of Brock and Brock telling Benza to get off him, yelling, “Stop! You’re gonna kill me!”

As the deputy lies on top of Brock, he can be heard in the video telling him to move his arms behind his back. Brock replies repeatedly that he can’t because the deputy has pinned his hands. Brock told CNN that his hands were pinned under his stomach and were stuck because of the weight of Benza on top of him.

At one point, Brock can be heard saying, “I’m a f**king teacher, bro!” and Benza responds, “I don’t care.”

Music can be heard in the footage, coming from Brock’s cell phone, which started playing after it disconnected from his car, his attorney said.

In a report following the incident, Benza wrote that he stopped Brock for a vehicle code violation because he saw an object hanging from the car’s rear-view mirror. Benza’s patrol vehicle can be seen in the surveillance video pulling up behind Brock’s car in the convenience store parking lot. It’s unclear from the video if its lights are flashing before the police cruiser stops.

“I punched S/Brock face and head, using both of my fists, approximately 8 times in rapid succession,” Benza wrote in a report following the incident. The report was shared by Brock’s attorney, along with medical records showing the deputy broke a bone in his hand during the altercation.

Benza also reported that Brock repeatedly tried to bite him, which was also noted in the medical report, with a comment following the exam that “there is no bite marks at this time.” Brock, who can be heard yelling throughout the encounter, told CNN he didn’t bite Benza.

Brock was arrested for mayhem, resisting arrest causing injury to a police officer, obstructing or resisting a police officer and failure to obey a police officer, Benza’s report says. Brock’s attorney, Tom Beck, says Brock denies the allegations.

“It’s clear retaliation; he is a man that lost his temper and took it out on a resident of Los Angeles,” Brock said. “They are there to protect and it’s not acceptable.”

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department declined to comment on specifics of the incident or the surveillance video, nor did they provide the deputy’s body camera footage.

“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department takes all use of force incidents seriously,” it said in a statement. “The Department is investigating the information and allegations brought forward by Mr. Brock and his attorney. Unfortunately, we cannot comment any further at this time due to the pending litigation in this matter,” the department said. They did not specify what litigation they were referring to.

Benza’s attorney Tom Yu told CNN in a statement that the detention was lawful and said that Benza “feared that Mr. Brock had a weapon on him.” He called his client’s “handling of this particular situation, given the totality of the circumstances, comported with Department policy and was objectively reasonable.”

He added that the officer Brock said he flipped off and allegedly followed him was not Benza, which can be proven by the location of his 911 call.

Brock also alleges he was treated badly while at jail because he is transgender.

While he was being questioned about the incident, Brock revealed he was transgender, he said. After the questioning was over, another deputy came into the room and started aggressively questioning about his gender, asking him repeatedly if he is a woman, Brock said. He said he tried to explain surgeries he’s had and what medication he was on, but the deputy was not listening, so Brock told him that he was identified female at birth.

Brock was then taken to a bathroom with a female deputy and ordered to undress and show his genitals, he said.

He said he was then taken to a men’s holding cell and shortly after transferred to a woman’s holding cell. The jail identified his gender as female on jail records despite his legal gender being male for around six years, he added. Jail records from his booking show Brock’s sex listed as female.

LASD said in a statement they are investigating the allegations but cannot comment any further due to pending litigation.

This incident is one in a series of recent allegations of excessive use of force involving Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, several of which have been caught on tape.

Two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies have been taken off field duty as their department investigates force they used when a couple was being detained at a grocery store in the city of Lancaster last month.

A Palmdale deputy was also recently disciplined for a 2022 incident in which he allegedly punched a woman twice while she held an infant in her arms, authorities said.

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