Miguel Angel Vega has entered a guilty plea to a felony charge of depriving a man identified as Jesus Alegria of his civil rights in Compton over three years ago. In his plea agreement, Vega admitted to unlawfully detaining Alegria and injuring him when his patrol car crashed following a verbal altercation in April 2020.
According to prosecutors, Alegria was not provided a valid reason for his detention, was not handcuffed, and was not informed of his rights during the incident, all of which violated department policy. Furthermore, Vega and his partner, Christopher Blair Hernandez, threatened Alegria with being left in gang territory to be beaten and falsely reported that Alegria was under the influence of a controlled substance.
Following the car crash, Alegria was instructed to flee the scene, despite suffering a head injury and a cut above his eye requiring stitches. The deputies then filed false reports to cover up their misconduct.
Vega's guilty plea follows Hernandez's decision to plead guilty to a felony conspiracy charge in July, facing a potential five-year sentence. Vega, on the other hand, could receive up to 10 years in federal prison for pleading guilty to deprivation of rights under color of law.
Vega and Hernandez were also involved in a fatal shooting of Andres Guardado, 18, in Compton two months after the altercation with Alegria in 2020. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office found that Vega shot Guardado five times in the back.
Link: KTLA
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