Plaintiff claims she was demoted for complaining about a deputy beating an inmate

A former assistant sheriff has sued the County of Los Angeles and Sheriff Alex Villanueva over a retaliation claim.

Robin Limon alleges she was demoted after complaining about Deputy Douglas Johnson’s alleged use of excessive force against inmate Enzo Escalante in March 2021, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“Unfortunately, for about three minutes after Escalante was restrained and passive, Johnson held his knee onto Escalante’s neck and restricted his breathing in a fashion like (former Minneapolis police Officer) Derek Chauvin did to George Floyd,” the lawsuit states.

Johnson made headlines the year before for having taken photos of Kobe Byant after the NBA superstar and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a January 2020 helicopter accident. According to the lawsuit, Villanueva promised he wouldn’t discipline Johnson as long as he destroyed the photos. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) Internal Criminal Affairs Bureau later investigated Johnson for alleged involvement in a gambling and prostitution ring, but he wasn’t fired, according to the suit.

After showing Villanueva the video of Johnson’s alleged assault on Escalante, the sheriff allegedly said, “We do not need bad media at this time,” the suit states. Villanueva allegedly then blocked a criminal investigation into the incident, lied about it and later claimed he didn’t watch the video until last November in order...

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