A rough arrest recorded on cellphone video left a deputy with a broken arm and a local man in jail last weekend, and now the defendant is out of jail and sharing his side of the story.
Cellphone video shows driver Jesus Medina during a traffic stop for tinted windows and expired registration. Next, a Century Station deputy opens the door, reaches into the car to remove Medina and arrests him.
Medina is now home after posting $155,000 bail. He was charged with assault on a police officer with bodily harm and resisting arrest.
"If she broke her arm, it's out of her acts. The way she acted! I did nothing wrong. I never swung. I never tried to push them down or anything. It's just body weight, you know?" Medina said.
The video, shot by Medina's brother Omar on Sunday, went viral and the Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva was asked about the incident Medina says left him bruised.
"You gotta look at the totality of the circumstances. We're gonna do that from every angle possible. And we'll have some answers once the investigation is concluded," Villanueva said at a news conference.
Medina claims while in sheriff's custody he was never housed, just bounded around, resting on benches and floors. And he said for days and nights, coronavirus concerns kept him awake.
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"For a second I was thinking that I actually was catching the COVID-19 because I couldn't breathe. They have no ventilations. They turn off all ventilations I guess so air won't circulate," he said.
Medina's case was also brought up during a Century Sheriff's Station town hall.
"The deputy current has been reassigned. The deputy is undergoing training."
Medina said his job as a union plasterer is disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. For now, he's focused on going to court on July 9.
"I pleaded not guilty and those charges come with two strikes. They said I'm facing up to 30 years," Medina said.
"My brother got it on video. There's witnesses so there's no way I could plead guilty to something I didn't do," he added.
