July 21--The Los Angeles Police Commission ruled Tuesday that two LAPD sergeants acted within department policy last year during a violent arrest of a South L.A. man who died the next day.
Police commissioners unanimously sided with LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, who recommended the two sergeants and four officers who responded as backup be cleared in the Aug. 2 encounter with Omar Abrego.
The decision caps a nearly year-long review of Abrego's death, which drew local attention from people protesting killings by police. Abrego died about a week before Ezell Ford, a mentally ill black man, who was fatally shot by officers just a few blocks from where Abrego was taken into custody.
Coroner's officials determined Abrego, 37, died from the effects of cocaine, but listed the "physical and emotional duress" caused by the altercation as a contributing factor.
One of the sergeants suffered a fractured bone in his hand; the other was treated for knee pain, police say.
The LAPD previously identified the two sergeants as Jeff Mares and Robert Calderon, both 20-plus year veterans assigned to the Newton Division gang detail.
Attorneys representing the sergeants and Abrego's family could not immediately be reached Tuesday.
Abrego's family is suing the LAPD in federal court, alleging the sergeants used "unreasonable and unlawful force" when taking Abrego into custody.
According to a redacted copy of Beck's recommendations obtained by The Times, the sergeants were driving down Broadway when someone flagged them down and told them about a suspicious white vehicle, with no license plates, in an alley. The sergeants then noticed a white van drive through a stop sign and nearly hit a pedestrian, according to the report.
The sergeants began to follow the van, which they told investigators was driving erratically, then pulled up next to it when it came to a stop on South Main Street, the report said. A man later identified as Abrego then jumped out of the van's back doors, the report said, and landed in the street.
The sergeants told Abrego in both English and Spanish to get down on the ground, according to the report. Abrego initially crouched down, the report said, but then got up and ran.
One of the sergeants followed Abrego for about 10 or 15 feet, the report said, at which point Abrego stopped and turned toward the sergeant. The sergeant then "grabbed Aberego in a bear hug," the report said.
Abrego "physically resisted and was able to break free," then punched the sergeant in the chest, according to the report. The sergeant responded by punching Abrego three times in the face and used "various additional force" as the altercation continued.
The other sergeant grabbed Abrego's arm and the two took him to the ground as he "continued to be combative and resist," the report said. The sergeants then called for backup.
The sergeants and responding officers were able to handcuff Abrego and hobble his legs, the report said. At one point, they told investigators, Abrego was "mumbling incoherently while spitting saliva and blood," so they temporarily put a "spit sock" over his head.
The sergeants told investigators they believed Abrego was under the influence of drugs because he was sweaty, wide-eyed and "seemed agitated."
Paramedics treated Abrego at the scene, then took him to Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood.
According to his autopsy report, Abrego was admitted to the intensive care unit for renal failure and rhabdomyolysis, a toxic breakdown of muscle tissue. He was also treated for a severe concussion, cuts and bruises and "cocaine toxicity."
He died the next morning.
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