LOS ANGELES (KNX) – Criminal charges were dropped against a 26-year-old Los Angeles man after he was shot by deputies.
On March 31, the family of then 25-year-old Isaias Cervantes called deputies after Cervantes was going through a “mental health crisis” and pushed his mom.
Cervantes has autism, and the “mental capacity of a 6-year-old”, his family told ABC 7. In a 20-minute video released by the sheriff’s office, his sister told the operator he also has OCD, depression, anxiety, and is hard of hearing. She also asked if he could be sent to a hospital.
A crisis counselor who had been working with the family for a few weeks told the two responding deputies that Cervantes went from verbally aggressive to physically aggressive, according to the sheriff’s office.
The deputies told Cervantes he was not under arrest but that he would have to be handcuffed and Cervantes attacked one of the deputies.
In the video, a snippet of the footage shows Cervantes struggling with a deputy, and the sheriff’s office said Cervantes had his right hand over the deputy’s gun.
At one point, a deputy is heard saying, “He’s going for my gun! He’s going for my gun!”
The second deputy then shot Cervantes.
As a result, Cervantes was left paralyzed and in a wheelchair.
The department said a deputy who responded had “facial abrasions, bilateral eye contusions, corneal abrasions and a cervical sprain,” according to LAist.
The family filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s department, but in October, the department filed criminal charges against Cervantes,” including assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer”, the outlet also reported.
District Attorney spokesperson Ricardo Santiago told the outlet the charges were “based upon our review of all the available evidence presented related to the incident and the conduct that occurred.”
Then on Thursday, ABC 7 reported that it wrapped interviews with the Cervantes family when the family were informed by the district attorney’s office that it would drop criminal charges against him.
"I'm very happy with these decisions today and I'm very, very glad," Rosa Padill Cervantes mother, told the news station.
"This is a miracle, miracle for my family."
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