A recently surfaced video depicts an incident involving Joseph Iniguez, the current No. 2 prosecutor in Los Angeles and a top aide to District Attorney George Gascon. The video captures Iniguez's arrest after he interrupted police officers who had pulled over his then-fiance during a traffic stop in 2021.
At the time of the incident, Iniguez was Gascon's chief of staff and was riding as a passenger in the vehicle when the couple was stopped by police for a suspected traffic violation. Iniguez, who recorded the encounter on a cellphone, can be heard asserting that the officers had pulled over the wrong person and urged them to check his license plates, which would have revealed his affiliation with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
During the interaction, Iniguez also advised his fiance not to engage with the officers and emphasized that field sobriety tests were voluntary and not required by law. Despite his efforts, both Iniguez and his fiance were ultimately arrested by the officers.
Furthermore, another high-ranking official in Gascon's office, Diana Teran, is facing an 11-count felony indictment for allegedly improperly accessing law enforcement information against Los Angeles sheriff's deputies. Teran is accused of using data obtained from a sheriff's office database during her previous employment and bringing it to the district attorney's office to assist Gascon.
The Association of Deputy District Attorneys has filed a lawsuit in 2022, implicating both Iniguez and Teran for allegedly instructing subordinates to violate the law. Gascon's office and Iniguez have not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the recent developments.