L.A. County Sheriff’s Department accused of racist abuse

As federal authorities probe allegations that sheriff’s deputies targeted minorities for harassment, a group of Antelope Valley families and one deputy are demanding unspecified damages from Los Angeles County for alleged episodes of racially motivated abuse, including two fatal shootings.

In a claim dated March 1 and filed with the county, attorney Bradley C. Gage alleged that racist deputies were responsible for several violations against minorities, including the deaths of two men, the beating of a third, the false detention of a woman and the harassment of a fellow deputy. All but one of the alleged victims were minorities and were targeted “without justification,” Gage said.

Neither the county nor the Sheriff’s Department would comment on the filing, with each saying it was prohibited from discussing pending litigation. However, Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore rebutted any suggestion that the department was racist. He said the department was looking forward to eventually “telling the whole story ... because the whole story has not been told.”

In addition to excessive force, false arrest and assault, the claim accuses the deputies of engaging in illegal searches and seizures, false imprisonment, malicious prosecutions and cover-ups. A claim filed against the government is a precursor to a civil suit.

Among the claimants is the family of Antelope Valley resident Darrell Logan, who was shot to death by sheriff’s deputies in October.

In an interview earlier this week, Darrell Logan Sr. said he was simply seeking justice for his 32-year-old son, who was shot in the back 11 times by deputies.

According to the claim, “(Logan’s) hands were up … there was no warrant for his arrest, he was not committing a crime at the time, not in possession of a weapon, and complied with officer commands.” An autopsy confirmed that the bullets all struck Logan’s back, Gage said.

The father, who said he was interviewed last year by federal Justice Department officials about alleged Sheriff’s Department misconduct and racial discrimination in the Antelope Valley, said he was convinced that skin color played a role in his son’s death. Logan was black.

“Just the circumstances,” Logan said. “It appears that it was a sort of vendetta or something.”

Another claimant, Sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Moffett, alleges that he was singled out for abuse and discriminated against by deputies because he is Asian. Moffett, who did not work in the Antelope Valley, alleges that he was also harassed repeatedly by another deputy who belonged to a secretive clique. Among other forms of harassment, Moffett said, the deputy pointed a handgun at him and threatened him.

ann.simmons@latimes.com