In the ongoing struggle to root out deputy subgroups and gangs within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, few episodes illustrate the tension between reform rhetoric and institutional self-protection more clearly than the handling of allegations at Lakewood Station.
At the center stands Lieutenant Juan Briseno, whose 2023 supervisory inquiry into reports of spade tattoos and possible cliques drew sharp criticism from the Office of Inspector General, and whose subsequent trajectory raises deeper questions about how the department under Sheriff Robert Luna rewards loyalty.
The inquiry began after a deputy, interviewed in connection with the Industry Station Indians altercation, told Internal Affairs investigators in January 2023 that he had seen “a lot of” deputies at Lakewood Station with spade tattoos, some incorporating the number 13, along with spade logos around the facility.
Pursuant to a March 2022 unit order, the Internal Affairs Bureau forwarded the information to the Lakewood captain on May 5, 2023. The captain directed a supervisory inquiry, which a station lieutenant identified in contemporaneous station materials and public records as Juan Briseno, memorialized in a May 26, 2023 memo.
That memo described the spade as one of two Lakewood Station “logos,” along with a diamond. According to the memo, the symbols represented “power, respect, honor, faithfulness, and love,” qualities it said Lakewood personnel strive to embody.
The memo also offered a far less sinister explanation for the number 13, stating that it simply represented Lakewood’s designation as the thirteenth station opened by the department. The symbols appeared on station merchandise and, according to the memo, were also incorporated into tattoos intended to represent their “positive attributes.”
As part of the review, 69 deputies were randomly selected across different shifts and levels of seniority, with 64 responding. Of those, 81 percent were familiar with the station logos and 13 percent were aware of a Lakewood Station tattoo. None reported knowing of a subgroup, clique, or deputy gang operating at the station, and none said they had been pressured to join one.
The memo concluded there was “no specific allegation… of a subgroup, clique, or deputy gang that violates the rights of other employees or members of the public.” Morale was “positive, inclusive,” and the station enjoyed community support. Sheriff Luna himself was quoted distinguishing “a station tattoo and a gang tattoo,” with the inquiry finding the symbols represented the station as a whole. “Based on my inquiry, I did not find any potential violations or evidence to indicate we have deputy sub-groups, cliques, or deputy gangs,” the lieutenant wrote.
The Office of Inspector General’s report, publicly detailed in early 2024 coverage and consistent with the pages under review, rejected this approach as emblematic of longstanding departmental failures. The inquiry, conducted by the very station where the alleged subgroup might have taken root rather than by the more independent Internal Affairs Bureau, failed to ask basic questions: which deputies bore the tattoos; whether invitation or a vote was required and by whom; whether sequential numbering marked membership order; or whether membership patterns suggested discrimination. It rested largely on self-serving assertions and a survey in which station personnel might reasonably fear retaliation or reputational harm for acknowledging a problem. The OIG characterized the process as one that “fails to meaningfully investigate the possible existence of a subgroup, and instead justifies and minimizes the evidence.”
Those criticisms gained new force in January 2025 when federal court filings in an unrelated corruption case surfaced. Lakewood-linked Deputy Eric Chase Saavedra, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax charges tied to his work for cryptocurrency figure Adam Iza (self-styled “The Godfather”), admitted in his plea agreement that he had obtained a Lakewood Station tattoo, a spade with the number 13, on his left ankle only after a panel of already-tattooed Lakewood deputies voted to approve it. He stated he was the 55th person to receive it. The admission directly undercut the 2023 inquiry’s conclusion that the tattoos carried no subgroup significance.
Saavedra’s case formed part of a broader federal investigation into deputies moonlighting for Iza’s private security operation, which allegedly involved intimidation, fraudulent warrants, and other abuses. Related convictions and sentences, including that of another former Lakewood-area deputy, continued into 2026.
Against this backdrop, sources familiar with internal matters describe a parallel sequence involving Briseno himself. In January 2024, according to these accounts, sheriff’s Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau personnel served a search warrant at Briseno’s residence in connection with allegations of receiving stolen property. He was relieved of duty while the matter was evaluated. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office ultimately declined to file charges, and Briseno returned to Lakewood Station in July 2025.
Department protocol ordinarily requires an administrative investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau following such criminal scrutiny. Sources state that Captain Daniel Holguin, then commanding Lakewood Station and described as close to Briseno decided to keep the investigation in house to oversee and steer the outcome. The process concluded in months rather than the year typical for such cases, clearing Briseno of wrongdoing. Other deputies facing prolonged administrative limbo at the station, sources note, have observed the disparity with frustration.
Thereafter, according to the same sources, Holguin began prominently featuring Briseno at departmental events, positioning him as a natural successor. In July 2026, when Holguin advanced and the captaincy of Lakewood Station opened, the department forwarded five candidates to the City of Lakewood for interviews. Four of those candidates, sources contend, lacked meaningful Lakewood Station experience, effectively narrowing the field in favor of Briseno, Sheriff Luna and Commander Homguin preferred choice. Briseno received the appointment.
The promotional process itself is not a matter of public court filings or official statements detailing candidate qualifications. Yet the pattern, cursory examination of subgroup indicators under Briseno’s own hand, subsequent personal legal scrutiny resolved without independent administrative scrutiny, and rapid elevation, invites scrutiny of whether institutional loyalty and the desire to close sensitive chapters outweighed rigorous accountability.
Sheriff Luna entered office pledging reform and a break from the department’s history of secretive cliques. The Lakewood episode, from the 2023 inquiry through Saavedra’s admission and the 2026 promotion, tests that commitment. Residents of Lakewood and the surrounding contract cities, whose public-safety partnership depends on the integrity of the station that serves them, have reason to ask whether the selection of their new captain rested on demonstrated merit and transparency, or on the quiet resolution of inconvenient questions. The department has not publicly detailed the full candidate pool or the administrative investigation’s findings. Until it does, the questions will persist.
