Adrian Cruz is suing Los Angeles County after deputies erroneously detained and beat him in front of his family while trying to protect them from police crossfire. After a dangerous car chase across Los Angeles streets, LA County Sheriff ‘s vehicles crashed into the suspect’s car who then slammed into Adrian Cruz’s vehicle. Mr. Cruz was accompanied by his family during the car accident which was then followed by an exchange of gunshots between deputies and the suspect. After the accident with the car chase suspect, Mr. Cruz then got out of his vehicle to protect his family from the wave of bullets that followed. Deputies inexplicably detained him and then continued to beat him. Deputies claim they were protecting Adrian Cruz. Meanwhile, Mr. Cruz described the situation by saying, “They just start smashing me, immediately smashing my head, beating me up, dropping me to the ground, knees on my neck.”
While beaten by Sheriff’s, “My son was trying his hardest to get to me,” says Cruz
The spokesman for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s department admitted that Adrian Cruz was wrongfully detained and that deputies did, in fact, confuse him for the suspect. This contradicts the initial statement where deputies claimed they were trying to protect him.
Mr. Cruz explained to the deputies that he was not the person they were looking for and questioned why they were physically assaulting him as his son was doing everything he could to get to him. Greg Kirakosian and Kirakosian Law are helping Adrian Cruz get his just compensation for the wrongful arrest, the physical brutality of the incident and the emotional trauma dealt to him and his family.
Wrongful Arrests and Police Brutality in California
Wrongful arrests and police brutality are unfortunately an issue that the state has faced over the years. The DOJ Open Justice data program shows that over 600 use of force incidents occurred in California in 2021 alone. From those incidents, over 200 involved gunfire and the majority of those incidents led to people being killed. Kirakosian Law recently helped Lyle Spruill win a half a million dollar case against deputies who falsely arrested him.
At the time of this writing, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department has stated it has no further comments regarding the incident. However, statements regarding the on-going case by Greg Kirakosian are available. Please contact info [at] kirakosianlaw.com for more information.