A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy kept drawing six-figure paychecks even after a federal jury found him guilty of depriving a woman of her civil rights, an incident caught on video outside a Lancaster supermarket that has reignited local anger over what happens to decertified law enforcement officers.
Public payroll data and department statements show the deputy stayed on the county payroll into 2026, even after the state stripped his peace officer certification. Records list $201,062 in total compensation in 2023, followed by about $170,000 in pay and benefits in 2024. According to the Los Angeles Times, the sheriff’s department says he was pulled from field duties on July 10, 2023, but technically remained employed until Feb. 20, 2026. When pressed on why he stayed on the books so long, officials cited confidentiality rules around personnel matters while legal appeals and internal procedures played out.
Bodycam And Bystander Footage
The confrontation that started it all unfolded on June 24, 2023, outside a WinCo Foods in Lancaster. Body-worn camera footage and bystander video show deputies detaining a man near the store while a woman recorded the encounter. Department-released video shows the deputy seizing the woman’s phone, slamming her face-first onto the pavement, driving a knee into her back, and deploying pepper spray twice, according to KABC/ABC7. The images, alongside the injuries the woman described, fueled federal civil-rights charges and a firestorm of public criticism.
Certification, Union Response, and Oversight
During the deputy’s federal trial, the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training suspended his POST certification, a credential required to serve as a peace officer in the state. The commission went further in November 2025, formally revoking that certification and effectively barring him from future peace officer work in California.
The case quickly landed on the radar of the Los Angeles County Civilian Oversight Commission. Commissioners unanimously approved a motion pressing the sheriff’s department to craft a clear policy for what happens when deputies lose their certifications, a gap the episode exposed in real time. Nick Wilson, spokesperson for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Professional Association, countered that it is not unusual for public employees to remain on the payroll while appeals and internal reviews run their course, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Legal Fallout And Appeals
In February 2025, a federal jury convicted the deputy of deprivation of rights under color of law, a federal civil-rights charge stemming from the Lancaster takedown. After a contested post-trial process, the conviction was reduced, and he ultimately received a four-month prison sentence.
Even that resolution did not come quietly. The case drew sharp scrutiny when the U.S. attorney’s office floated a rare post-conviction plea deal, a move that triggered resignations among federal prosecutors and fresh criticism from civil-rights observers. Prosecutors and defense attorneys are still fighting over the case in court and pursuing appeals, according to The Associated Press.
The saga has exposed how slowly overlapping systems can move when an officer is criminally convicted, decertified at the state level, and still subject to county employment rules. Oversight commissioners say they want a straightforward policy that keeps decertified deputies from remaining on payroll while appeals stretch on. Civil-rights advocates are watching closely to see whether those promises turn into binding rules.
County officials, pointing to personnel law and ongoing litigation, say their ability to discuss specifics is limited. They also acknowledge mounting political pressure to tighten the rules that allowed a deputy convicted in federal court to keep collecting taxpayer-funded paychecks for years.
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