LA County cop who chased down, concussed man over middle finger faces 10 years in federal prison

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. - A Los Angeles County deputy is pleading guilty to the Feb. 2023 incident where he brutally beat up a transgender man in Whittier.

In the 2023 incident, surveillance videos showed the deputy, 36-year-old Joseph Benza III, slamming Emmett Brock to the ground in a 7-Eleven parking lot. 

Benza agreed to plead guilty to felony civil rights violation for using excessive force and faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

What prompted Benza to lose his cool in the incident from nearly two years ago? It all stemmed from the fact that Brock gave him the middle finger while driving by Benza as the latter was responding to a domestic violence call, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to Brock’s lawyer Thomas Beck during a July 2023 interview, the then-23-year-old had spotted Benza allegedly "berating a woman of color," prompting Brock to flip the bird. The Department of Justice wrote in a press release that Brock’s expression is protected by the First Amendment.

"When an officer violates someone’s civil rights, it corrodes trust in law enforcement and undermines the effectiveness of other officers who sacrifice to protect the public," said United States Attorney Martin Estrada in a press release released by DOJ. "This senseless assault and subsequent attempted cover-up are an affront to our system of justice."

In addition to beating up a civilian, Brock’s lawyer accused Benza back in 2023 of lying about Brock biting the cop, an allegation that ended up being backed by DOJ.

DOJ also said in a press release that Benza admitted to preparing a false incident report that omitted any reference to the flip-off and lied about Brock being stopped for having an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror. DOJ also accused the cop of discussing with other deputies how they would delete text messages about the incidents from their phones.

LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said Benza has since been relieved of duty and, without saying Benza’s name, accused him of violating the public’s trust.

"These actions undermine the integrity of our Department, the trust of our community, and the safety of those we are sworn to protect," Luna said in a statement published by DOJ.

In a prior report published by FOX 11 in 2023, Beck claims when Brock was being booked by LASD, deputies asked Brock to show his genitalia to prove his identity as a transgender man before throwing Brock into the women’s cell.

Brock ended up suffering head injuries from Benza’s attacks, FOX 11 reported during the earlier stages of the use-of-force investigation.