Former Los Angeles County sheriff deputy, Miguel Vega, has agreed to plead guilty to federal felony charges after arresting a man without reason, fabricating a story, and causing injuries during a police car crash. Vega and Christopher Hernandez arrested Jesus Alegria without proper procedure and taunted him during the arrest. Vega also crashed the police car, injuring Alegria. Hernandez will also plead guilty in July. Vega’s plea agreement includes a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. This incident occurred two months before Vega fatally shot an 18-year-old Latino teen. Minnah Arshad reported
Former Los Angeles County sheriff deputy Miguel Vega has agreed to plead guilty to federal felony charges after he arrested a man without reason, fabricated a story for the arrest, and crashed a police car, causing injuries to the victim. The incident occurred on April 13, 2020, at Wilson Park in Compton. Vega, along with fellow deputy Christopher Hernandez, arrested Jesus Alegria, known as J.A. in court records, without informing him that he was being arrested or reading him his rights. They also failed to handcuff him or secure his seatbelt.
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According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Vega, 33, taunted Alegria during the arrest, even threatening to abandon him in gang territory where he would be assaulted. To make matters worse, Vega later crashed the police car with Alegria in the backseat, resulting in Alegria hitting his head and sustaining a cut above his eye that required stitches.
Hernandez has also agreed to plead guilty in July, while Vega filed his plea agreement on Tuesday, admitting to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law. This crime carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, as stated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The plea agreement revealed that during a patrol three years ago, Vega and Hernandez approached two young Black men outside a skatepark in Compton and demanded that they lift their shirts to check for guns, despite having no reason to suspect them of any wrongdoing. Alegria, who was in the skatepark at the time, began yelling at the officers to leave the two men alone. However, he did not threaten the officers or anyone else. This led Vega to challenge Alegria to a fight and subsequently detain him in the police SUV out of anger and a desire to “teach J.A. a lesson,” according to the plea agreement.
Throughout the drive, Vega continued to taunt and threaten Alegria, who repeatedly asked for an explanation as to why he was being arrested but received no response. Instead, Vega fabricated a story to justify the arrest, claiming that Alegria was under the influence of a stimulant. Vega believed that he and Hernandez could book Alegria for this offense without facing further questioning due to the subjective nature of the offense.
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During the drive, Vega spotted a group of young men on bicycles and, based on what he believed to be a fearful look on one person’s face, concluded that the individual was carrying a firearm. He proceeded to chase the bicyclist in the police SUV, eventually crashing the car into an alley wall and a parked car, resulting in Alegria’s injuries.
It is important to note that Vega had no prior knowledge of Alegria before the encounter at the skatepark, according to the plea agreement.
In response to the incident, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department issued a statement emphasizing its commitment to holding employees accountable for their actions. However, the department did not provide any information regarding the former deputies’ official records or whether any departmental changes have been made since the incident occurred.
In 2021, Alegria filed a lawsuit against the county, the sheriff, and the two deputies involved in the fabricated drug charges and subsequent arrest report. The county agreed to settle the lawsuit last year, awarding Alegria $450,000 in compensation.
Tragically, two months after Alegria’s wrongful arrest, Vega fatally shot an 18-year-old Latino teen named Andres Guardado. Vega, who was working as a security guard at an auto body shop in Gardena at the time, fired five shots into Guardado’s back. Sheriff’s officials claimed that Guardado had displayed a handgun when Vega and Hernandez spotted him talking to someone in a car outside the shop. Guardado then fled, and the officers pursued him into an alley, where he was killed. The Guardado family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county, which was settled for $8 million last year.
The case involving Vega and Hernandez highlights the need for law enforcement officers to be held accountable for their actions and demonstrates the importance of maintaining the highest moral and ethical standards when serving the community..
