The L.A. County District Attorney’s office announced charges against a sheriff’s deputy accused of covering up a fellow deputy’s alleged DUI crash in Stevenson Ranch last year and then lying about the nature of the incident to investigators, according to a news release from county prosecutors.
Deputy Gregory Davis, 54, faces one felony count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one misdemeanor count of giving false information to a peace officer and three misdemeanor counts of delaying and/or obstructing an investigation, in connection with the Stevenson Ranch DUI investigation.
Davis saw off-duty sheriff’s Deputy Carlos Perez had crashed a Sheriff’s Department patrol vehicle Aug. 26, 2022, near the intersection of Pico Canyon Road and North Southern Oaks Drive that Friday night, according to a statement from District Attorney George Gascón.
The deputy who had crashed was later found at his home nearby, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Radio traffic from the time indicated that a witness who reported the incident saw the deputy being assisted by someone else before leaving the scene with apparently minor injuries, according to a previous Signal story on the crash.
The statement from Gascón indicated one of the first people to see the scene after Davis was a retired Los Angeles Police Department officer who called and reported that a man was attempting to move the car from a crash scene.
“Davis initially did not identify himself as an off-duty deputy,” according to Gascón’s statement.
“Davis arrived, allegedly pulled his fellow deputy’s limp body out of the crashed SUV and placed him in the vehicle of his fellow deputy’s wife, who drove him home. … Davis then attempted to move the deputy’s SUV before an off-duty LAPD officer passing by called authorities.”
The news release did not identify the retired LAPD officer.
The incident is part of an investigation by the Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Justice System Integrity Division.
Davis, who works for a specialized unit that includes the department’s High-Risk Tactical/Rescue Teams, is expected to surrender to authorities Sept. 27 in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles.
Davis was relieved of duty as of Wednesday’s announcement, according to a statement from the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
“This individual was on administrative leave during this incident and because of the criminal filing he was relieved of duty on Tuesday,” according to the statement from SIB, which added, “Sheriff (Robert) Luna does not tolerate any form of behavior inconsistent with our mission and core values nor is any law enforcement officer above the law.
“Sheriff’s deputies work tirelessly to serve the community and are entrusted with maintaining the public’s trust. When individuals taint that trust and engage in criminal misconduct they will be investigated and fully prosecuted under the law.”
Perez was charged with two counts relating to driving under the influence in connection with the crash. He’s due back in court in East Los Angeles in October in connection with that case.
A representative from the DA’s office was not immediately available to explain why the DUI case was being prosecuted there despite the crash taking place in Stevenson Ranch.
“Ensuring law enforcement accountability is essential to maintaining public trust,” Gascón’s statement said. “A law enforcement officer obstructing an investigation into unlawful conduct by another deputy undermines the integrity of the justice system. We will hold accountable both the officer who committed misconduct and those who participated in covering it up. No one is above the law, especially not those that are sworn to uphold it.”
