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Suspect Shot After Gaining Possession Of Officer Firearm
Published 3 years ago
On March 31, 2021 deputies were called out at about 8:40 p.m. to a home in the 5100 block of Live Oak Street in the city of Cudahy. The caller told authorities that a family member was experiencing a mental health crisis and was causing a disturbance by pushing other family members.
The caller told dispatch that Cervantes, 25, had obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety and was hard of hearing. The caller also mentioned a therapist was at the home attempting to calm Cervantes, but the efforts were not working.
The crisis counselor at the home told deputies that she had been working with Cervantes for about six weeks and had been called out to the home that night for his “verbally aggressive demeanor,” according to the sheriff’s department.
Deputies then approached the home and asked Cervantes to come outside with them, but when he declined they entered the home and attempted to detain him with handcuffs. The video then shows Cervantes fighting with the deputies, and both body cameras fall to the ground.
One of the deputies can be heard in the video saying, “He’s going for my gun, he’s going for my gun.” Video appears to show Cervantes’ hand near the deputy’s waist, but it’s not immediately clear what he is doing.
The other deputy can then be heard asking, “Does he have your gun?” The first deputy does not respond, and a single shot is fired. Deputies called for an ambulance and Cervantes was taken to the hospital with a single shot to his torso. One of the deputies suffered cuts to his face, bilateral eye contusions, corneal abrasions, and a cervical sprain, according to LASD.
As for Cervantes, he was still in the hospital and could be paralyzed for life.