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Stanton, CA (KTLA) — A video of an Orange County sheriff’s deputy repeatedly punching a man during an arrest in Stanton shows excessive force, an assistant public defender alleges. But the Sheriff’s Department is defending the deputy’s actions, saying he used “appropriate” force against an “assaultive and intoxicated person.”
The Aug. 19 encounter in a Stanton parking lot was captured on dashcam video.
Two Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputies approached Mohamed Sayem as he was sitting in a parked car, according to a motion filed by Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders seeking the deputy’s personnel files. Sanders helped uncover the improper use of jailhouse informants in Orange County in 2014.
Deputy Michael Devitt is seen on the video repeatedly punching Sayem in the face. But Sanders and the Sheriff’s Department describe the encounter in very different ways.
The assistant public defender said the video shows excessive force, and proves that the deputies lied about the encounter to justify their actions.
“In Orange County, the Sheriff’s Department will stand up for every deputy. It doesn’t matter what they do, it will alway be justified. And that’s the problem,” Sanders said.
Just prior to the blows, one of the deputies can be heard telling Sayem, “Don’t get out of the car.”
Sayem is heard saying, “Don’t touch me like that,” before the struggle begins. The camera view is largely obscured by the door of Sayem’s vehicle, but the deputy can be seen grappling with Sayem, then punching him several times.
Sayem, who was originally approached on suspicion of public drunkenness, now also faces a charge of felony resisting arrest. But Sanders said his client never attacked the deputy. He has pleaded not guilty.
“It’s a fabrication,” he said. “And his sergeant knows he’s not telling the truth.”
The sergeant who supervises Devitt was himself prosecuted, but not convicted, over an excessive force claim nine years ago, Sanders said.
Sheriff’s officials said the video serves as evidence that the deputies acted properly.
They responded to a call from a citizen when they encountered Sayem, who was “visibly under the influence,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Carrie Braun said in a written statement.
When a deputy asked for Sayem’s ID, “The subject refused to do so and attempted to physically engage the deputy, during which the deputy used force appropriate for the situation to gain control of an uncooperative, assaultive and intoxicated person,” Braun said.
The deputies “made every attempt to deescalate the situation” before resorting to force, she said.
The Sheriff’s Department also said the attorney’s allegation of a cover-up is false, saying the deputy’s report was supported by the video, in its entirety.
“Any assertion otherwise substantially misrepresents the facts, and serves only to swell an anti-law enforcement narrative,” Braun said.
And the department pointed out that the Orange County District Attorney’s Office reviewed the evidence and filed charges against Sayem.
While it is the job of defense attorneys to try to get their clients cleared of charges, Braun said, “Our judicial system relies on the courts and juries to determine the facts of what occurred, and we have confidence that a conclusion will be reached supported by fact, not conjecture.”
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