The LA County Sheriff's Department's "3000 Boys" function very much like a street gang, sporting similar tattoos and flashing gang-like signs. (May 4, 2011) |
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FULLERTON (KTLA) -- On a busy party night at the popular 'Slidebar' nightspot in Fullerton, the bar's surveillance cameras record bouncer Chris Barton, trying to clear the bar at closing time, just before 2 a.m.
Most of the bar patrons file out willingly. But a few...do not.
Barton identifies them in the surveillance video, obtained exclusively by KTLA News. He says three customers who refuse to leave are LA County Sheriff's deputies.
One of them in particular resists Barton's requests to leave. Barton says he is deputy David Ortega, and he is becoming belligerent.
"He tells us he's an LA County Sheriff's deputy," Barton says, referring to the images on the surveillance tape. "He says he has right to be here, he's a cop, and it doesn't matter what we say or what laws are. He's a police officer, and if he wants to do something, he can do it."
Barton says Ortega quickly becomes combative with him. "He tells me he wants to fight me," Barton says. "He's like, 'I want you to throw the first punch, throw the first punch.' I said no, go home. He's like, 'What happens if I spit on you?"
Then Barton shows the moment on the surveillance tape when, he says, Ortega spits in his face. Barton says Ortega spits on him a total of three times. Then, Barton says, Ortega threatens him in the name of his "3000 Boys," a group of close-knit sheriff's deputies who, some say, function like a street gang themselves. They sport similar tattoos, they flash gang-like signs, and they've been linked to violence both inside and outside the Men's Central Jail where they work.
"He said that him and his boys, the 3000 Boys, or the 3000 Block, are going to take care of me," Barton recalls. "He said he was going to beat the crap out of me, and leave me in a pool of my own blood, leave me there to die."
Barton and his staff manage to get Ortega outside the bar, but Barton says Ortega's threats continue.
"At that time he decides to say he's going to shoot us," Barton says. "So he reaches behind his back, like he's going for a gun. That's when myself and another bouncer tackle him."
Liuckily, Ortega does not have a gun. Barton says he was bluffing.
Fullerton police arrested the sheriff's deputy, and charged him with four counts: assualt, battery, fighting, and making a terrorist threat.
As a result of the Fullerton incident, Ortega was demoted in the Sheriff's Department. He pled no contest to one of the charges, and served probation. Today he is still working in the Men's Central Jail.
And more than a year after the Fullerton arrest, Ortega was among a group of "3000 Boys" deputies who allegedly beat inmate Evans Tutt on the third floor of Men's Central Jail. Tutt's injuries at the hands of Ortega and the other deputies put him in the hospital for 11 days. The deputies said Tutt was resisting. Tutt said the attack was unprovoked.
Chris Barton says he is shocked that Ortega still has a job with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. Barton concedes he has concerns about retaliation by the "3000 Boys" since he came forward with his story. But Barton says it's worth it, if his story can help bring change to the Sheriff's Department.
Most of the bar patrons file out willingly. But a few...do not.
Barton identifies them in the surveillance video, obtained exclusively by KTLA News. He says three customers who refuse to leave are LA County Sheriff's deputies.
One of them in particular resists Barton's requests to leave. Barton says he is deputy David Ortega, and he is becoming belligerent.
"He tells us he's an LA County Sheriff's deputy," Barton says, referring to the images on the surveillance tape. "He says he has right to be here, he's a cop, and it doesn't matter what we say or what laws are. He's a police officer, and if he wants to do something, he can do it."
Barton says Ortega quickly becomes combative with him. "He tells me he wants to fight me," Barton says. "He's like, 'I want you to throw the first punch, throw the first punch.' I said no, go home. He's like, 'What happens if I spit on you?"
Then Barton shows the moment on the surveillance tape when, he says, Ortega spits in his face. Barton says Ortega spits on him a total of three times. Then, Barton says, Ortega threatens him in the name of his "3000 Boys," a group of close-knit sheriff's deputies who, some say, function like a street gang themselves. They sport similar tattoos, they flash gang-like signs, and they've been linked to violence both inside and outside the Men's Central Jail where they work.
"He said that him and his boys, the 3000 Boys, or the 3000 Block, are going to take care of me," Barton recalls. "He said he was going to beat the crap out of me, and leave me in a pool of my own blood, leave me there to die."
Barton and his staff manage to get Ortega outside the bar, but Barton says Ortega's threats continue.
"At that time he decides to say he's going to shoot us," Barton says. "So he reaches behind his back, like he's going for a gun. That's when myself and another bouncer tackle him."
Liuckily, Ortega does not have a gun. Barton says he was bluffing.
Fullerton police arrested the sheriff's deputy, and charged him with four counts: assualt, battery, fighting, and making a terrorist threat.
As a result of the Fullerton incident, Ortega was demoted in the Sheriff's Department. He pled no contest to one of the charges, and served probation. Today he is still working in the Men's Central Jail.
And more than a year after the Fullerton arrest, Ortega was among a group of "3000 Boys" deputies who allegedly beat inmate Evans Tutt on the third floor of Men's Central Jail. Tutt's injuries at the hands of Ortega and the other deputies put him in the hospital for 11 days. The deputies said Tutt was resisting. Tutt said the attack was unprovoked.
Chris Barton says he is shocked that Ortega still has a job with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. Barton concedes he has concerns about retaliation by the "3000 Boys" since he came forward with his story. But Barton says it's worth it, if his story can help bring change to the Sheriff's Department.
