Lawsuit says gang's deputy 'shooter' bragged about suspect's death

Six years ago, a plumber found the decomposing body of Raymundo Rivera in a pillar of a Winco supermarket in Lancaster. At the time, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials said the 35-year-old man appeared to have fled during a traffic stop and may have “gone in there and got off to trying to hide from the police, then couldn't get out. »

But according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, former deputy Aaron Tanner later bragged that he and other deputies chased Rivera — and that they knew he fell into the pillar . Instead of trying to save him, the complaint says, “the officers left him there to die and made false reports that they had lost track of the suspect during the chase.”

The allegations came to light this week when Tanner's ex-girlfriend filed a $5 million lawsuit, accusing him of physically assaulting her. more than two years. The woman, who is identified only as Jane Doe in court records, also alleged that the ex-lawman bragged about being a “shooter,” or leader, of a known deputy gang under the name Rattlesnakes. According to the complaint, he also threatened to ask other members of the group to “take care of her” if she told anyone about his alleged abuse.

Tanner could not be reached for comment Wednesday, and it was unclear whether he had an attorney. State records show he has not been employed by the sheriff's department since late last year.

In addition to raising a litany of other allegations about Tanner — including an on-duty incident in which he allegedly severed the leg of a dead horse — the suit also describes repeated misconduct involving other members of the Rattlesnakes. According to the complaint, Tanner told his ex that the group effectively controlled the Lancaster Sheriff's Station and that its members allegedly intimidated other deputies, made false arrests and framed people. So far, the group has received little attention compared to more notorious deputy groups operating in East Los Angeles and Compton.

The complaint, filed by attorney Vincent Miller, accuses the county of allowing deputy gangs to persist despite promises of reform.

The Sheriff's Department said in a statement Wednesday evening that it had not formally received the complaint but that it “does not tolerate any act that violates the civil rights of others” and is working to hold those responsible accountable. deputies.

“The department has conducted several in-depth investigations into deputy gangs that have never been conducted before and for the first time, we have terminated employees for violating existing deputy clique and subgroup policy,” the statement said. “Additionally, the department updated training programs, educated staff about deputy gangs and behaviors that could have negative career consequences, and created a task force to generate cultural change sustainable.”

The deteriorated relationship that sparked the lawsuit began in March 2020, when Jane Doe began dating Tanner. The deputy allegedly told him he was an influential member of a “gang” called the Rattlesnakes. According to the complaint, he told her that members of the group would refuse to respond to patrol calls from other deputies “to put their lives in danger,” write false police reports and engage in other “illegal conduct.” .

But the crux of the allegations focuses on Tanner's alleged abuse and “sadistic tendencies.” In the 17-page filing, Doe accuses the deputy of repeatedly strangling her until she lost consciousness, allegedly telling her he had to do so to maintain his “dominance” over her. According to the suit, Doe did not report Tanner to authorities because she was afraid of retaliation from other members of the Rattlesnakes.

“Jane Doe saw how powerful Tanner and the Rattlesnakes were and how they controlled Lancaster Station,” the suit continues, offering as an example an incident that began when Tanner allegedly told his girlfriend to follow him in his car . He drove at a high speed, the suit says, then braked so suddenly that his car struck hers.

When a passerby called 911, Tanner allegedly called dispatch and told them not to send help.

In late 2022, Doe broke off her relationship with Tanner. Afterward, she claims, he and other members of the Rattlesnakes stalked her at work, “terrorizing and intimidating” her. Then, in 2023, the suit says, the department began investigating Tanner and officials contacted Doe about an unrelated incident she allegedly witnessed during an unauthorized ride with him.

However, Doe was reluctant to speak because she suspected one of the investigating sergeants was a member of the Rattlesnakes and might tell her ex what she would say. Yet, according to the suit, the department eventually opened an internal criminal investigation into Tanner. Two other deputies reportedly told the department's internal investigators that Tanner had refused assistance to other deputies and that they reported it to the station captain.

“When they reported the refusal of backup,” the suit states, “the captain quickly acted to cover up the deputy gang activity at the precinct, telling the deputies to never speak to him again and to 'get out of the damn place' “. my desk.'”

In addition to the internal criminal investigation, the suit says Tanner was the target of several administrative investigations, including an incident in which he allegedly sawed off the leg of a dead horse with a penknife and forced an intern to hold the leg. The suit does not specify when the incident allegedly took place, what the deputy allegedly did with the detached leg or why it was removed in the first place.

Today, the department's investigation “is winding down,” the lawsuit says, and investigators are “apparently confident that the prosecutor will indict Tanner for the violence committed against Jane Doe and the use of his gang to intimidate the witness.” He also received notice of termination, the complaint states.

The prosecutor's office did not immediately respond to a question about whether prosecutors had ever been asked to review cases involving the former deputy.

For decades, the Sheriff's Department has been plagued by allegations that gangs of deputies trampled certain precincts and jail floors. The groups are known by nicknames such as the Indians, the Vikings and the Regulators, and their members often have the same sequentially numbered tattoos with symbols linking them to specific stations.

Certain groups – such as the Compton Executioners and the East LA Banditos – have become frequent targets of surveillance investigations, prosecutions and independent reporting.

But aside from the allegations in this week's lawsuit, relatively little is known about the Lancaster group. When the Special Advisor to the Civilian Oversight Commission issued a 70-page deputy gang report last year, the Rattlesnakes received a fleeting mention. Two years earlier, a Rand Corp. Report of 230 pages commissioned by the county on Bands only referenced the Rattlesnakes three times, describing them as one of the few tattooed bands that did not appear to be actively adding members.

The same year, a 54-page report written by researchers at Loyola Law School described the group as “an adjunct gang operating out of Palmdale and Lancaster stations in the Antelope Valley.”

The report describes the group's tattoo as a skull and snake, but it does not mention any suspicious members or allegations of misconduct. The report states that it is unclear whether the tattoos were numbered sequentially.

Yet it appears Rattlesnakes have been on the federal government's radar since at least 2013, when a US DOJ report raises concerns about a group of tattooed deputies in the Antelope Valley. The report details the findings of an investigation into allegations of racist policing practices in the northern Los Angeles County area.

“Some Antelope Valley deputies wear tattoos or share accessories with an intimidating skull and snake symbol as a sign of their affiliation with Antelope Valley stations,” the report states. “While there are different interpretations of what these tattoos symbolize, they provide an undeniable visual representation of the divide between deputies and the community and are an unfortunate reminder of the history of LASD symbols associated with problematic deputy behavior.”

At the time, Sheriff's Department officials “assured” the US DOJ that they were trying to remove the “image of the skull and snake.” But federal authorities noted in their report that the images were still “widely visible throughout the Antelope Valley.” The report encourages the Sheriff's Department to take stronger action to get deputies to stop displaying such “divisive” badges.

Following that report, in 2015 the county entered into a settlement agreement with the federal government, promising to correct some of the policing problems authorities identified.

More than a decade later, this week's lawsuit accuses the county of failing to take meaningful steps to rein in subgroups of tattooed deputies in the Antelope Valley or throughout the county. The complaint lays out a long list of wrongdoing linked to other tattoo groups, including the Banditos, which operate out of the East Los Angeles sheriff's station.

The suit says members of the groups were disciplined for “stealing money from residents, destroying evidence, filing false police reports, lying during investigations, recklessly killing children, and intimidating witnesses.” “.

The suit seeks money for attorney's fees, interest and damages, including for severe emotional distress.