- An image obtained by KTLA showing alleged 3,000 Boys gang member displaying the group's trademark hand sign. (KTLA-TV / May 3, 2011)
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KTLA Special Report: 'The Gang Behind the Badge?' Part Two
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KTLA Special Report: The Gang Behind the Badge - Carolyn Costello reports
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- VIDEO: The Gang Behind the Badge? Part 3
- VIDEO: The Gang Behind the Badge? Part 4
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LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- Investigators documented the broken tooth, nose, bruises, contusions and muscle damage that former inmate Evans Tutt says he received at the hands of several Sheriff's deputies.
"I complied with everything the deputy said. I don't want any problems because I know how the deputies get down in their module," Tutt said in an interview with Sheriff's investigators obtained exclusively by KTLA.
"I got repeatedly kicked, and hit, with flashlights, and whatever deputies could hit me with," Tutt recounted.
They're entrusted with upholding the law, but cases like Tutt's serve as proof that the infamous "3,000 Boys," a group of rogue Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies, have been exhibiting the same gang-like behavior and criminal activity as the jailed inmates they're guarding.
Tutt spent 11 days in the hospital after deputies charged him with resisting an officer. His attorney, Public Defender Daryne Nicole, said the department wanted to make an example of him.
"My client had been complaining about conditions in the jail, and they wanted to show him that it's their house, and they run it," Nicole told KTLA.
The case against Tutt was eventually dismissed. He's now embroiled in a civil rights suit against the department.
At least three of the deputies involved in Tutt's case are part of a group who call themselves the "3,000 Boys."
The group, assigned to the third level of Men's Central Jail, are identified by a gang-like hand sign holding up three fingers and tattoos of barcodes and the number "3,000" on the back of their necks.
Attorney Michael Gennaco, whose L.A. County Office of Independent Review oversees Sheriff misconduct issues, told KTLA that the group clearly exhibits signs of the gangs they preside over.
"The emulation or adoption of some of the signals of gang members is unsettling." Gennaco said. "I think it suggests that a group of individuals within the jail... have lost their way."
The group was thrust into the media spotlight after several of their members became involved in a violent fight during a department Christmas party last December.
About 100 guests, including sheriff's supervisors, had attended the party at the Quiet Cannon Restaurant.
As the night was winding down near midnight, Montebello police received an anonymous 911 call reporting violence in the parking lot.
"They're sheriffs?" the dispatcher asks.
"Yeah," the caller responds. "And they're fighting downstairs."
"Three of them held one guy down while another one beat him," the calls further recount.
When Montebello officers arrived, they were told the combatants were deputies. No one was arrested that night.
Deputies beaten up that night filed a criminal complaint against the group, launching an internal investigation that has landed 6 still unidentified officers in the hot seat.
Attorney Peter Eliasberg's of the American Civil Liberties Union has represented scores of inmates in abuse cases at Men's Central Jail and hopes that the recent incident will shed light on a problem of violence he's been working to expose for years.
"The highest level of use of force incidents in Men's Central Jail over the past four years occurred on the 3rd floor," Eliasberg said, referring to the floor the group is assigned to.
"The fact that they are beating up their friends and colleagues... is a pretty strong indicator that... in the jails, they have a tremendous amount of power [and] are highly likely to be beating up the prisoners."
County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore conceded that the incident at the Quiet Cannon Restaurant in Montebello was a black mark against the department.
"This, by any measure, was unacceptable," Whitmore told KTLA of the department's response to the incident.
"Do we sometimes make mistakes [and] respond in a way that is not appropriate? The answer is regrettably yes," Whitmore said.
"Do we immediately rectify, investigate [and] take appropriate action? Absolutely."
As a result of an internal probe consisting of more than 150 interviews, the six deputies involved in the fight have been suspended without pay. The pending terminations marks one of the largest disciplinary actions in the department's history.
In response to the incident, the department has also increased rotations for deputies in the jail to deter deputies from forming gang-like allegiances.
The incident has now be transferred to the District Attorney's office for possible criminal prosecution.
"I complied with everything the deputy said. I don't want any problems because I know how the deputies get down in their module," Tutt said in an interview with Sheriff's investigators obtained exclusively by KTLA.
"I got repeatedly kicked, and hit, with flashlights, and whatever deputies could hit me with," Tutt recounted.
They're entrusted with upholding the law, but cases like Tutt's serve as proof that the infamous "3,000 Boys," a group of rogue Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies, have been exhibiting the same gang-like behavior and criminal activity as the jailed inmates they're guarding.
Tutt spent 11 days in the hospital after deputies charged him with resisting an officer. His attorney, Public Defender Daryne Nicole, said the department wanted to make an example of him.
"My client had been complaining about conditions in the jail, and they wanted to show him that it's their house, and they run it," Nicole told KTLA.
The case against Tutt was eventually dismissed. He's now embroiled in a civil rights suit against the department.
At least three of the deputies involved in Tutt's case are part of a group who call themselves the "3,000 Boys."
The group, assigned to the third level of Men's Central Jail, are identified by a gang-like hand sign holding up three fingers and tattoos of barcodes and the number "3,000" on the back of their necks.
Attorney Michael Gennaco, whose L.A. County Office of Independent Review oversees Sheriff misconduct issues, told KTLA that the group clearly exhibits signs of the gangs they preside over.
"The emulation or adoption of some of the signals of gang members is unsettling." Gennaco said. "I think it suggests that a group of individuals within the jail... have lost their way."
The group was thrust into the media spotlight after several of their members became involved in a violent fight during a department Christmas party last December.
About 100 guests, including sheriff's supervisors, had attended the party at the Quiet Cannon Restaurant.
As the night was winding down near midnight, Montebello police received an anonymous 911 call reporting violence in the parking lot.
"They're sheriffs?" the dispatcher asks.
"Yeah," the caller responds. "And they're fighting downstairs."
"Three of them held one guy down while another one beat him," the calls further recount.
When Montebello officers arrived, they were told the combatants were deputies. No one was arrested that night.
Deputies beaten up that night filed a criminal complaint against the group, launching an internal investigation that has landed 6 still unidentified officers in the hot seat.
Attorney Peter Eliasberg's of the American Civil Liberties Union has represented scores of inmates in abuse cases at Men's Central Jail and hopes that the recent incident will shed light on a problem of violence he's been working to expose for years.
"The highest level of use of force incidents in Men's Central Jail over the past four years occurred on the 3rd floor," Eliasberg said, referring to the floor the group is assigned to.
"The fact that they are beating up their friends and colleagues... is a pretty strong indicator that... in the jails, they have a tremendous amount of power [and] are highly likely to be beating up the prisoners."
County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore conceded that the incident at the Quiet Cannon Restaurant in Montebello was a black mark against the department.
"This, by any measure, was unacceptable," Whitmore told KTLA of the department's response to the incident.
"Do we sometimes make mistakes [and] respond in a way that is not appropriate? The answer is regrettably yes," Whitmore said.
"Do we immediately rectify, investigate [and] take appropriate action? Absolutely."
As a result of an internal probe consisting of more than 150 interviews, the six deputies involved in the fight have been suspended without pay. The pending terminations marks one of the largest disciplinary actions in the department's history.
In response to the incident, the department has also increased rotations for deputies in the jail to deter deputies from forming gang-like allegiances.
The incident has now be transferred to the District Attorney's office for possible criminal prosecution.
