A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy accepted a plea deal Tuesday, Dec. 17, after following a transgender man last year for nearly two miles, beating him in a parking lot because he flipped the deputy off and lying about the assault in an incident report.
Joseph Benza III, 36, was charged late Tuesday with one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law and agreed to plead guilty to the felony civil rights offense, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“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,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna in a statement. “These actions undermine the integrity of our Department, the trust of our community, and the safety of those we are sworn to protect.”
While responding to a domestic violence call in the area of Mystic Street and Guilford Avenue in Whittier on Feb. 10, 2023, Benza saw the 23-year-old man, who was identified in court documents as E.B., drive past and stick out his middle finger.
Abandoning the domestic violence call, Benza followed E.B.’s vehicle for nearly two miles, at points traveling as fast as 50 miles per hour through a residential neighborhood, without trying to stop or pull over E.B., the plea agreement said.
Eventually, E.B. reported to 911 that someone was following his vehicle and stopped in a parking lot, according to the plea agreement.
Benza parked behind E.B. and turned on his overhead lights for the first time. He then came toward E.B., and, without giving any commands, grabbed him, according to the plea agreement.
E.B. pulled away from Benza and said “Don’t touch me” before Benza slammed him to the ground. Benza then mounted E.B., punched him in the head and face multiple times and slammed his face into the pavement, according to the DOJ.
During the assault, E.B. screamed for help and yelled, “You’re going to kill me!,” “I can’t breathe!” and “Please stop!,” the plea agreement said.
E.B. had a concussion, bruising and cuts because of the attack and experienced vomiting and head pain.
When Benza made an incident report later that day, he asked his fellow deputies whether or not he should include that he went after E.B. because he had been flipped off.
Three sergeants with the Sheriff’s Department told him to leave that information out of his report, according to the plea agreement. Instead, Benza lied in the report and said he stopped E.B. for having an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror, falsely claimed E.B. bit his hand hard enough to puncture his skin and cited him with criminal mayhem.
Benza also talked with other deputies about deleting text messages related to the assault and making false statements to federal authorities who were investigating it, according to the plea agreement.
In an interview with federal authorities in January, Benza lied by denying that he saw E.B. flip him off and saying he didn’t substantively discuss the report with others while writing it. He did admit that a sergeant drafted substantive portions of the report.
In the coming days, Benza will make his first appearance in federal court. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
As part of the plea agreement, Benza cannot seek future employment as a sworn law enforcement officer at the federal, state or local levels.
