A Lynwood family said that sheriff’s deputies used excessive force during an incident outside their home caught on camera, and Wednesday the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department responded.
"As he is lying face - boom - Taser in the back," said Michael Carrillo, attorney for the family.
The incident occurred in March 15, 2015, but the sheriff’s department was taking a new look into the case after the release of the video footage.
Three separate videos were taken by neighbors of the entire incident.
Carrillo describes what happened to his client, Marco Aarevalo and his son with the same name, on the front lawn of the family home in Lynwood.
"Mr. Arevalo senior was standing there watching, not doing anything, saying, 'hey, they are going to kill this guy,'" Carrillo said.
A family friend was being detained allegedly for peeping into a home and Arevalo was watching.
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The deputy told Aervalo to back up.
The attorneys said the father and son did.
"They use the baton and hit him one, twice, three times,” Carrillo said. "He puts his hands up to say, 'Stop. I’m not resisting.'"
The attorneys said the deputies testified in court that the Arevalo disobeyed commands from officers and made threats at them.
"This mob mentality needs to stop and these deputies need to be investigated," Carrillo said.
In a statement, the sheriff department said they reviewed the incident with information known at the time but in light of the video footage,"the new information will be thoroughly reviewed in conjunction with the existing case to determine if additional investigation is warranted."
"Because of them my son is dead," said Maria Elena Arevalo, mother of Marco junior.
She said she believes what happened months back harmed her son. He was 33 years old when he died in October, but his cause of death is not yet known.
Marco Arevalo said he doesn’t want this to happen again to another person. His attorneys said after showing the district attorney the video of the incident, all charges against Arevalo were dropped.
"Without this video, they were prepared to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law," Lance Filer, Arevalo’s criminal attorney, said. "He was facing the teeth of the justice system on criminal convictions. How many times does this happen when there is no video?"
The family had not yet filed any lawsuits.
