Ex-LA county deputy pleads guilty to beating up transgender man who allegedly flipped him off

A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who lives in Corona pleaded guilty on Friday, Jan. 17, to assaulting a transgender man in the parking lot of a Whittier convenience store who allegedly flipped off the lawman.

Joseph Benza III, 36, was charged last month with one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law for the February 2023 confrontation.

Benza entered his plea in L.A. federal court to the offense, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years behind bars, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. A sentencing date of July 25 was scheduled.

Benza has been relieved of duty, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said when the deputy was charged.

The victim, a teacher in his early 20s who weighed about half as much as Benza, suffered a concussion, contusions and abrasions, according to court papers.

In his plea agreement, Benza admitted that he was responding to a domestic violence call in Whittier when he saw the man drive by and extend his middle finger. Benza abandoned the domestic violence call and closely followed the man’s vehicle for 1.8 miles, intending to retaliate with force, according to the plea agreement.

After calling 911 to report that he was being followed, the victim eventually pulled into the convenience store’s parking lot. Benza then parked behind his vehicle and activated his overhead lights for the first time, court papers say. The plea agreement states that Benza approached the man, who was getting out of his vehicle. Benza grabbed the victim, who pulled away and said, “Don’t touch me.”

Benza admitted in his plea agreement that he “violently body slammed” the man onto the ground, then punched his head and face multiple times, and pressed his “face into the pavement.”

The beating was caught on surveillance video.

Later that day, as he began preparing an incident report, Benza apparently consulted with other deputies about whether he should include that he began pursuing the man because he had been flipped off. Three sergeants counseled Benza to omit that fact from his report, the plea agreement states.

The DOJ says that, to cover up his civil rights violations, Benza prepared a false incident report that omitted any reference to the flipping off and instead stated that the man was stopped for having an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror.

Benza also falsely claimed that the man had bitten Benza’s hand with enough force to puncture the skin, and the deputy cited the man with criminal mayhem, prosecutors said.

During an interview with federal authorities in January 2024, Benza allegedly made false statements, including denying that he had seen the man flip him off and that he had not substantively discussed the incident report with others while he was writing it, federal prosecutors said, adding that Benza eventually admitted that a sergeant drafted substantive portions of the report.