Video of a confrontation involving Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies in a Lancaster grocery store parking lot is now part of a departmental use of force investigation.
Witness and body-worn camera videos captured the encounter June 24 when deputies from the Lancaster Sheriff's Station responded to a 911 report of a robbery at a WinCo store in the 700 block of West Avenue. Sheriff Robert Luna said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference that the 911 caller said the man and woman were assaulting loss prevention employees.
Deputies approached a pair in the parking lot who matched a description provided by store security of the person sought in the robbery report, Luna said.
As deputies tried to detain the man and woman in the parking lot, the "encounter escalated into a use of force," according to the sheriff's department. Body-worn camera video shows deputies placing the man in handcuffs before they approach a woman who appeared to be recording the arrest on her phone.
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"You can't touch me," the woman told the deputies as she was grabbed.
Witness video showed a deputy with an arm around her neck throwing the woman to the ground seconds later.
"It's not a fight. You threw me down to the ground. Stop manhandling me," the woman told deputies before she was sprayed with pepper spray.
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A witness who recorded video of the encounter said she earlier heard loud talking at the front of the store before the law enforcement response. One person could be heard saying, "I didn't steal anything," Michelle Garrett told NBCLA.
Garrett said she later saw the man and woman approached by deputies in the parking lot and began recording from her car.
"It was really intense. It was scary," she said. "I just couldn't believe my eyes.
"When he slammed her down, I was like ‘Ah, my god.'"
Garrett said she does not know the man and woman.
The sheriff's department issued the following statement: "The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has opened an investigation into this incident. While the Department does not make statements related to ongoing investigations, Sheriff Luna has made it clear that he expects Department personnel to treat all members of the public with dignity and respect, and that personnel who do not uphold our training standards will be held accountable. In the interest of transparency with our community, the Sheriff’s Department is releasing body-worn camera video from the incident."
Both deputies were re-assigned from field duty, pending further administrative review, the sheriff's department said.
On Wednesday, Luna said he had seen bystander and police bodycam video of the incident, adding that it is "disturbing, there's no ifs and buts about it."
Luna said the department's investigation will determine whether the use of force reasonable, necessary, appropriate and proportional to the “level of actions that were described."
The man was arrested for resisting or delaying an officer, petty theft or attempted petty theft and interfering with a business, the sheriff said. The woman was treated at a hospital for abrasions to her arms and pain in her eyes due to being pepper sprayed. She was then arrested for assaulting an officer and battery after assaulting loss prevention personnel, according to Luna.
NBCLA reached out to WinCo, but did not hear back early Tuesday afternoon.
A community group plans to gather Wednesday night at the parking lot.
"The video of an arrest at WinCo last week is disturbing," Lancaster Mayor R Rex Parris said in a statement. "I have talked to Sheriff (Robert) Luna and the Lancaster Captain. I am confident they are conducting a thorough investigation into the use of force.
"It should be pointed out that this was not a simple shoplifting. The call came in as a robbery in progress. The reason I point this out is because we should stop listening to rumors. We should gather all the facts before coming to any conclusions regarding the suspects, the deputies or the department.
"I don’t like what I see on the video. People in these situations are extremely stressed and will often act badly out of fear. Deputies should take this into consideration when approaching them. But, we should also understand that our deputies are working long hours and are often sleep deprived. We are 31% understaffed at the Lancaster Station.
"This is not offered as an excuse or justification, but I also recognize that until we have the necessary number of deputies to be fully operational we all share some of the responsibility for incidents like this."
Luna said the department will continue to work with the community. He instructed command staff to organize a meeting with community stakeholders this week.
Luna noted that based on some of the outcry he has heard, it's clear there are "challenges" in the area.
“There’s a lot to this, so I ask for the community’s patience to allow us to look at this objectively and figure out exactly what happened," he said.
