>> Inexcusable and deplorable. Bryant's attorneys
wrote, we are demanding that those responsible for these alleged actions
face the harshest possible discipline. >> As Sheriff of Los Angeles County,
I believe together we can make a difference and right these wrongs.
>> I wish my husband was here to accept this incredible award.
>> While the world watched Vanessa Bryant, the sorrow and pain she has endured from not only her
husband Kobe Bryant dying in a helicopter crash, but her daughter Gigi and seven other lives loss.
>> I'm Alex Villanueva. >> Thing is LA County
Sheriff Alex Villanueva does not care what his sheriff's did that day, which entail.
>> Vanessa Bryant is absolutely devastated by allegations that sheriff's deputies shared
photos from the helicopter crash site. >> I witnessed firsthand the pain
they went through. >> Let me show you why
this man is full of it. >> The court docs read deputies
who responded to the crash scene used personal cell phones to take and share gratuitous photos
of the dead children, parents, and coaches, sharing most photos via text or airdrop.
>> In the lawsuit, Bryant alleges Deputies Joey Cruz, Raphael Mejia, Michael Russell, and Raul
Versales shared photos of the helicopter crash. >> One deputy in particular took between 25
and 100 photos of the crash scene on
his personal cell phone. >> One officer went to a
bar and proudly showed them to another person in the bar, laughing about it.
And another shared the images with other officers through WhatsApp.
>> So look here you all, just because Sheriff Villanueva has this calm, caring demeanor,
it does not mean he operates in good faith. As a matter of fact, his tone in interviews and
press conferences show how two faced he really is.
Vanessa Bryant was granted permission by a judge to name the four officers who arrived
at the crash site of the helicopter crash on January 26, 2020 in Calabasas,
California. In naming these sheriff deputies for their egregious actions of taking photos of the
just diseased bodies, the sheriff's office, seeing how they have no argument, made, well, this one.
The county of Los Angeles has accused the widow of Kobe Bryant of conducting a fishing
expedition that is taking first responders away from their jobs and subjecting them to harassment
after she sued them and posted for their names on Instagram in March. To reiterate, she won a
legal battle in March to obtain the names of the deputies and promptly put them on blast on her IG.
The line I find most interesting in the county's argument is, this straightforward
case with undisputed facts has turned into a fishing expedition. In my view, the word
facts sticks out. Via the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles County, Sheriff Alex Villanueva's
directive to deputies to delete any photos on their cell phones of the Kobe Bryant
helicopter crash scene may constitute an order to destroy evidence and could lead to their arrest,
a now former Lost Hills station captain warned his bosses according to court papers.
Information gathered from internal affairs documents
turned over to Vanessa Bryant's legal team Involves the sheriff's statement
to underlings that if they came clean and deleted any photos in their possession,
they would not be punished, per Vanessa Bryant's lawyers. Via the Los Angeles Times,
Sheriff Alex Villanueva acknowledged to NBC4 that he ordered the destruction of the images.
It seems fairly obvious, but facts only work when they are tinkered, manipulated,
and destroyed to help the LA County Sheriff's Office and Alex Villanueva.
According to the suit, Sheriff Villanueva initially assured Bryant of privacy
when she expressed concerns just after the crash occurred. Villanueva is an elected official.
Like many in his profession, he lied to protect his own ass, and it appears
orchestrated a cover up. The fact that their newest rebuttal is, but you hurt our feelings
by exposing our corruption is laughable at best. Meanwhile, for LA sheriffs and the like.
>> Several former and current deputies with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department were just
arrested as part of a major sting that targeted everything from corruption to inmate abuse.
>> In 2012 and 13, Angel, as a top ranking Burbank cop, forwarded emails which included
insulting jokes about jail cells being filled with, quote, Blacks and Mexicans.
>> It just seems this sort of behavior just runs in the system.