FIRST ON FOX: Newly released video shows Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon’s top aide arrested after interrupting police who pulled over his then-fiance during a traffic stop on their way home from a wedding in 2021.
Joseph Iniguez, the current No. 2 prosecutor in Los Angeles, was riding shotgun when police pulled the couple over for a suspected traffic violation.
Iniguez was Gascon’s chief of staff at the time, and last year he received a $10,000 settlement from Asuza after he sued over the incident, alleging a federal civil rights violation. He has since been promoted to chief deputy district attorney.
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Joseph Iniguez sits beside his boss, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, at the Reform L.A. Jails Summit + Day Party: Mental Health Matters, on November 09, 2019, in Pasadena, California. (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Patrisse Cullors)
Iniguez, who recorded the video on a cellphone, can be heard telling officers, “You’ve pulled over the wrong person, let me tell you.”
“This is not right,” he says. “This is why when they talk about law enforcement and like our interactions with law enforcement – he did the right thing tonight, and drove me. We were at a wedding.”
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Iniguez was accused of repeatedly interrupting an Asuza police officer who was trying to question his then-fiance after a traffic stop. (Asuza Police Department)
Iniguez also urged the officers to check his license plates, which could have revealed to them that he worked for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
“Run our plates, and see what you find,” he said. “Honestly. I’m not saying anything, just see what you find.”
Also during the encounter, he repeatedly urges his fiance not to speak with the officers.
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After arresting the driver, the officer told Iniguez he was under arrest as well. (Asuza Police Department)
“FSTs are completely voluntary and not required by law,” he shouts as an officer attempts to interview the driver.
FST refers to field sobriety tests, which police use to assess potential drunkenness.
A still image taken from jailhouse surveillance video shows Los Angeles Chief Deputy District Attorney Joseph Iniguez making a phone call from lockup after a 2021 arrest for public intoxication. (Asuza Police Department)
“If he has probable cause, he will arrest you,” Iniguez continues. “…He has reasonable suspicion, so he says, to conduct a traffic stop. OK.”
Under a California law, Government Code 26540, prosecutors are not allowed to assist in the defense of any suspected criminals whatsoever.
“A district attorney shall not during his incumbency defend or assist in the defense of, or act as counsel for, any person accused of any crime in any county,” the code reads, according to FindLaw.
An Asuza, California, police officer escorts George Gascon’s right-hand man Joseph Iniguez into a cell after a 2021 stop for public intoxication. (Asuza Police Department)
After his fiance is handcuffed, the officer approaches Iniguez and arrests him too.
“Sir, you’re currently in public, and you’re intoxicated,” he says. “You’re being placed under arrest right now. Turn around for me. Put your hands behind your back.”
Additional video shows Iniguez at the jail but does not include audio.
Another top Gascon aide, Diana Teran, faces an 11-count felony indictment for allegations that she improperly accessed Brady material against Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies.
Iniguez chats with law enforcement after his 2021 arrest. (Asuza Police Department)
Teran is accused of accessing a sheriff’s office database about its deputies when she worked there and then taking that information with her to the district attorney’s office to work for Gascon, who was elected on an anti-police platform. Under Gascon, she “impermissibly” used the improperly obtained data to assist, according to the California Attorney General’s Office.
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Her defense attorney, James Spertus, previously told Fox News Digital that he expects to clear his client and that the state has a weak case.
The Association of Deputy District Attorneys, the county prosecutors’ union, has named both Iniguez and Teran in a 2022 lawsuit alleging they both ordered subordinates to break the law.
Neither Iniguez nor Gascon’s office immediately responded to requests for comment late Monday evening.
Fox News’ Kyle Schmidbauer contributed to this report.
