LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón’s chief of staff was arrested earlier this month for public intoxication by Azusa Police.
Joseph Iniguez, 36, told the Los Angeles Times his Dec. 11 arrest was unjust and claims officers detained him in response to him filing the encounter. L.A. County jail records show Iniguez was arrested just before midnight following a traffic stop and booked in the early hours of Dec. 12.
Iniguez told the Times he was driving home from a wedding with his fiancé and they stopped at a drive-through restaurant in Azusa when they were approached by police.
Iniguez said his fiancé was ordered out of the vehicle after officers suggested his fiancé was driving drunk. Iniguez told the publication he stepped out of the vehicle to film the interaction with police out of concern for his fiancé.
“I decided to get out of the car, stand near the car, on the passenger side, and I began to record,” Iniguez told the Times. “I wanted to record to preserve whatever was going to happen between that officer and my fiancé, because he was not DUI.”
Iniguez also told the newspaper he didn’t believe the officers were using any dashboard or body-worn cameras.
Iniguez added he was ultimately arrested. His fiancé was briefly detained.
Jail records show Iniguez was released early morning on Dec. 12. The reason for release was a section of the state’s penal code that allows an officer to release a suspect if they were “arrested for intoxication only, and no further proceedings are desirable.”
Iniguez said he has filed an internal affairs complaint against the arresting officer.
“This happens to people all the time, all across the county…it’s been a traumatic experience knowing that an officer on a whim can place those cuffs on you,” Iniguez said.
APD has not publicly addressed the matter.
A special advisor to Gascón said the office is aware of the incident and that the D.A. has the “utmost confidence in [Iniguez],” adding he wouldn’t speak to the specifics because it’s a personnel matter.
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