The city of Azusa has paid a $10,000 settlement to Joseph Iniguez, the top aide of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, who in July dropped his federal civil rights lawsuit against the municipality stemming from his 2021 arrest for public intoxication.
The seven-page settlement agreement finalized last month states that Iniguez and the city of Azusa are each responsible for their own attorney fees and costs.
In an email Tuesday, Sept. 12, Azusa City Manager Sergio Gonzalez said the settlement is “purely a business decision” to resolve litigation at a “minimal cost.”
“The settlement in no way represents any admission of liability or wrongdoing on the part of the City of Azusa or any of our officers,” Gonzalez said. “The City of Azusa and Chief (Rocky) Wenrick fully support the actions of our dedicated officers and are happy to have this matter come to a mutually acceptable resolution.”
Iniguez did not immediately respond to requests for comment. He has previously stated that he will donate the entire settlement amount to the nonprofit Law Enforcement Action Partnership in support of “good cops and modern policing strategies.”
Iniguez, 37, questioned police and advised his husband not to cooperate with an officer who pulled over his black Tesla just after 11:30 p.m. Dec. 11, 2021, in the 900 block East Alosta Avenue in Azusa, according to an eight-page police report obtained by the Southern California News Group.
Iniguez, who was a passenger in the car, “exited the vehicle and began telling (the driver) that he did not have to answer any questions nor did he have to conduct any field sobriety tests,” says the report submitted by Azusa police Cpl. R. Martinez. “I could see that his (Iniguez) eyes were bloodshot and watery, he had slurred speech, a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath and person, he admitted to consuming alcoholic beverages and he was not listening to commands from…
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