LASD commander files whistleblower lawsuit against the department and county

Allen Castellano, a commander with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, has filed a lawsuit against his department and the county for retaliating against a whistleblower.

"LASD has held itself out as above the law and immune to accountability, with leadership operating with the lack of transparency and audacity of a third world dictatorship and evading any oversight," Castellano's attorneys stated in the lawsuit. "While past sheriffs have retaliated against whistleblowers, Villanueva has taken vindictiveness, revenge, and retaliation to a whole other level and Villanueva's misconduct has led to approximately two dozen ongoing whistleblower lawsuits against the County."

In the lawsuit, Castellano's attorneys claim that the department "has long been plagued by a history of corruption and whistleblower retaliation" and specifically singled out instances during Sheriff Alex Villanueva's tenure.   

"Villanueva brought a thirst for revenge into office and began plotting retaliation against whistleblowers and those reporting allegations of his misconduct before he even officially became sheriff in December 2018," the attorneys wrote. 

Castellano claims that Villanueva has been "out for revenge" since 2018 when he began his tenure as sheriff. Castellano claims that he has not received a promotion, as a result of trying to hold the sheriff "accountable and blowing the whistle" on Villanueva. 

"In addition, Villanueva pressured [Castellano] to 'volunteer' to self-demote two ranks down to lieutenant to supposedly get additional 'custody' watch commander experience," the attorneys wrote. "Castellano did not take Villanueva up on his 'generous' offer."

The lawsuit relates to the alleged excessive use of force incident that happened inside the San Fernando Courthouse in March 2021. Earlier this year, a video was released by the Los Angeles Times showing Deputy Douglas Johnson allegedly kneeling on an inmate's head. Top LASD officials allegedly showed the video to Villanueva before the Times published it.

According to the lawsuit, the inmate Enzo Escalante, "had long stopped resisting the deputy" when Johnson began to place his knee on Escalante. 

"A sergeant investigating the matter determined that Johnson applied pressure to Escalante's head for an 'unreasonable amount' of time and a lieutenant called the restraint tactic unnecessary as Escalante 'no longer offered any resistance,'" attorneys wrote.

The lawsuit compared the deputy's action to George Floyd's death in 2020. Floyd was killed after Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin placed his knee on the back of the 46-year-old's neck. 

"Here, Esclanate survived, but under LASD policy, the nature of the deputy's conduct required a swift criminal and administrative investigation into his conduct," Castellano's attorneys wrote in the lawsuit. 

According to the lawsuit, Castellano was informed about the incident and tried to "handle the matter promptly and properly."  

"However, Sheriff Villanueva obstructed justice and covered the Escalante incident up and retaliated against [Castellano] and others for blowing the whistle on the illegal conduct," the attorneys wrote. "The sheriff then used his usual political tactic of trying to frame the whistleblowers for his own misconduct, and has repeatedly defamed [Castellano], and continues to shamelessly do so up to the filing of this complaint."

Despite Villanueva viewing the video as well as Castellano's and other top LASD officials' attempts to bring the excessive use of force incident to light, Villanueva said the department did "not need bad media at this time." The lawsuit claims that Villanueva told then Assistant Sheriff Robin Limon "he would handle the matter."

In addition to Limon's existing lawsuit, Castellano is the second top LASD official to accuse the department of retaliating against a whistleblower. He is seeking about $15 million in damages.

"The fact that Villanueva lies and frames the whistleblowers for his own conduct does not change that admission he has made of obstruction of justice done by county leadership," Attorney Vincent Miller said in a statement. "The buck stops at the top and it's time for Alex Villanueva to resign as sheriff."

In a statement released on Oct. 6, Villanueva called the lawsuit "frivolous" and said it was an attempt to "influence the outcome" of the November General Election. 

"The lawsuit filed by Allen Castellano is a regurgitation of the same false statements, omissions, mischaracterizations, and outright lies contained in other lawsuits recently filed by Robin Limon, Lajuana Haselrig, Vanessa Chow, and their attorney, Vincent Miller," he wrote.

The sheriff is running against former Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna. The latest polls show Luna with a 10-point lead on Villanueva.