First appeared on FOX: Newly released video shows a top adviser to Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón being arrested in 2021 for interfering with police when his then-fiance was pulled over for a traffic violation on the way home from a wedding.
Los Angeles’ current No. 2 prosecutor, Joseph Iniguez, was sitting in the passenger seat when police pulled the couple over for a suspected traffic violation.
Mr. Iniguez, who was Mr. Gascón’s chief of staff at the time, received a $10,000 settlement from Mr. Asuza last year after filing a federal civil rights lawsuit over the incident and was subsequently promoted to chief deputy district attorney.
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Joseph Iniguez sits next to his boss, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, during the Los Angeles Prison Reform Summit + Day Party: Mental Health Issues on November 9, 2019 in Pasadena, California. (Jesse Grant/Getty Images, courtesy of Patrice Cullors)
“You pulled over the wrong person,” Iniguez can be heard telling the officers.
“This isn’t right,” he said. “And that’s why, when we talk about policing and interactions with police, he did the right thing tonight and drove me. We were at a wedding.”
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Iniguez is accused of repeatedly obstructing Officer Asuza as he attempted to question his then-fiancee after being pulled over for a traffic violation. (Aso Police Station)
Iniguez also asked officers to look at his license plate, which might reveal he worked for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
“Check the license plate and see what you can find,” he said. “Honestly, I’m not going to say anything. Just see what you can find.”
During the encounter, he also repeatedly urged his fiancee not to speak to officers.
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After arresting the driver, officers told Iniguez they were also under arrest. (Aso Police Station)
“FST is completely voluntary and not required by law,” he shouted as officers attempted to question the driver.
FST stands for Field Sobriety Testing, which police use to assess the possibility of sobriety.
A still image taken from a jail surveillance camera shows Los Angeles Chief Deputy District Attorney Joseph Iniguez making a phone call from jail after his 2021 arrest on a public indecency charge. (Aso Police Station)
“If he has probable cause, he will be arrested,” Iniguez continued, “…He says he has probable cause to conduct a traffic stop, OK.”
California law, Government Code 26540, does not allow prosecutors to assist in the defense of any suspect.
“A district attorney shall not, during his term of office, defend, assist in the defense of, or act as counsel for any person accused of any crime in any county,” it states. Go to FindLaw.
A police officer in Asuza, California, escorts George Gascón’s right-hand man, Joseph Iniguez, into custody after he was stopped for public intoxication in 2021. (Aso Police Station)
After the fiancé was handcuffed, officers approached Iniguez and arrested him as well.
“You are now in a public place and you are intoxicated,” he says. “You are now under arrest. Turn around. Put your hands behind your back.”
Additional video shows Iniguez in the jail but does not include audio.
Another senior aide to Gascón, Diana Teran, is charged with 11 felony counts of improperly obtaining Brady materials from Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies.
Iniguez speaks with police after his 2021 arrest. (Aso Police Station)
Teran is accused of accessing a database of sheriff’s deputies while on the job and taking that information to the district attorney’s office while working for Gascón, who was elected on an anti-police platform. According to the California Attorney General’s Office, Teran “improperly” used the improperly obtained data to assist Gascón.
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Her lawyer, James Spertus, previously told Fox News Digital he expects his client will be acquitted and that the state’s case is weak.
The county prosecutors’ union, the Association of Deputy District Attorneys, filed charges against both Iniguez and Teran in a 2022 lawsuit, alleging that they ordered subordinates to violate the law.
Neither Iniguez nor Gascón’s office immediately responded to requests for comment late Monday night.
Fox News’ Kyle Schmidtbauer contributed to this report.
