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LASD attorney urges judge to reverse fired deputy’s reinstatement BY CITY NEWS SERVICE
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Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission’s reinstatement of a sheriff’s deputy the department had fired for allegedly repeatedly berating individuals during field duty in 2016 was an abuse of discretion, an attorney for the county states in new court papers. Last August, attorneys for the LASD brought a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court, arguing that the commission abused its discretion by reversing the firing of Deputy Charles Kunz III in favor of suspending him for 30 days and reassigning him to his original position at the Pitchess Detention Center South Facility. “Honor, professionalism and integrity are qualities that the department and the public expect from sworn peace officers,” Calvin House, an attorney for the county, states in court papers brought Wednesday. “Deputy Kunz failed to live up to those expectations.” Instead, Kunz treated
members of the public with open disdain and disrespect, then lied to the Internal Affair investigators to avoid taking responsibility for his actions, according to House’s court papers. “Therefore, discharge was the only appropriate discipline,” House argues in his court papers. The commission’s hearing officer thought that Kunz’s years of disciplinefree service, and prior positive evaluations, constituted extenuating circumstances, House states in his court papers. “But those are not extenuating circumstances in that they did not explain why he made false statements,” House further states in his court papers. “They were just part of his record at the department. Those facts did not prove that he would refrain from making false statements in the future.” When an administrative tribunal like the commission reduces the discipline for a law enforcement officer found to have been dishonest, a judge “should not hesitate to step in to
uphold the law enforcement agency’s decision to discharge the (deputy),” House further states in his court papers. In her court papers, Kunz’s attorney, Elizabeth J. Gibbons, defends the commission’s discipline decision. “The commission’s determination of the appropriate disciplinary penalty is well within the commission’s discretion and is a decision to which the Superior Court must defer, absent a factual showing of a manifest abuse of discretion,” Gibbons states in her court papers. “(The LASD) has made no such showing here.” Gibbons further states that the commission found Kunz guilty of lying only about whether he called two juveniles obscene names. “All other allegations of lying were found by the commission to have not been proved to be true,” Gibbons states in her court papers. Kunz worked at the Pitchess Detention Center until April 2016, when he
Los Angeles Superior Court. | Photo by Amaury Laporte/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
began field training at the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff’s station, the LASD petition states. In early June 2016, Kunz was being trained in the field by Sgt. Jason Goedecke and were on patrol when they
encountered a woman they believed was in violation of the state vehicle code, the petition states. While talking with the woman, Kunz got into an argument with her and began cursing, calling
her a word so severe that Goedecke pulled him away and admonished him, the petition states.
See LASD Page 3
Alleged fatal shooter of 14-year-old Pasadena boy pleads not guilty BY CITY NEWS SERVICE
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man pleaded not guilty Thursday in connection with the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old boy in Pasadena in January. Alexis Ibarra, 24, is charged with murder for the Jan. 18 shooting of Damian Issak Montoya, according to the criminal complaint. The 14-year-old boy, who was shot in the head, died at the hospital two days later, according to online records from the coroner’s office. Ibarra is also charged with one count of attempted
murder involving the vehicle’s driver, according to Ricardo Santiago with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The criminal complaint includes allegations that Ibarra personally used a handgun. Pasadena police were called to the 1600 block of North Los Robles Avenue, three blocks north of Washington Boulevard, by paramedics who were treating the boy, according to police Lt. Keith Gomez. Paramedics were in the area on an unrelated
call when a man driving a white Toyota stopped and asked for help with the boy, who was sitting in the front passenger seat with a gunshot wound to the head, according to police. Detectives determined that the teen was shot at the intersection of Los Robles Avenue and Eldora Road before he was driven to the paramedics, police said. Ibarra was arrested Jan. 19 by Pasadena police and has remained behind bars since then, jail records show.
| Photo courtesy of Chris Campbell/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Officers recovered a firearm and other evidence that allegedly linked him
to the shooting, authorities said. Police said soon after
the shooting that detectives were investigating it as a “criminal gang incident.”