Sheriff Luna and 20 Unnamed LASD Execs Served with Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit Tied to Deputy Gang Tattoos

Well, well, well. Karma has finally come a knocking.

After spoon-feeding the feds a felony civil rights case that led to the federal indictment of Deputy Trevor Kirk, Sheriff Robert Luna now finds himself on the receiving end of a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by one of his own captains – over the same deputy gang tattoo witch hunt Luna has weaponized to advance his political narrative.

Captain Benjamin Torres, a decorated veteran with an unblemished record, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Luna, 20 unnamed executives, and Los Angeles County, accusing them of blocking his promotion because of a two-decade-old station tattoo. The same tattoo culture Luna has publicly demonized, while at the same time protecting and promoting multiple high-ranking executives who have their own ink — including Luna’s own Undersheriff April Tardy.

The Ink That Broke the Camel’s Back

According to Torres’ lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, his career has been deliberately derailed because of a two-decade-old station tattoo on his inner calf. The tattoo, Torres explains, was given to him 20 years ago by his academy classmate and fellow Marine veteran David Piquette — a symbol of honor, brotherhood, and pride in his service, not gang affiliation.

Torres, who has never committed any misconduct, faced no internal investigations, and boasts a record of integrity and professionalism, alleges that Luna’s administration is now using the tattoo as pretext to block his promotion – despite the fact that the department has promoted numerous high-ranking executives under Luna who are heavily tattooed themselves.

Luna’s Tattoo Double Standard

For Luna, tattoos are only a problem when it’s politically convenient. As The Current Report previously exposed, Chief Joe Mendoza – one of Luna’s top promotions – underwent a public tattoo removal, playing into Luna’s PR narrative in order to climb the ranks.

Mendoza’s decision to cover up his notorious “Banditos” tattoo — once a proud display of station loyalty — came only after the department’s image problem became politically inconvenient. The timing of his public narrative claiming “embarrassment” over the tattoo’s symbolism, just so happened to divinely align with his bid for promotion, raising more questions than answers about his true motivations.

While Mendoza rebranded himself with a St. Michael tattoo, many in the department saw it for what it was: optics over accountability.

And Mendoza isn’t the only one. Numerous tattooed deputies and supervisors have been promoted under Luna while others, like Torres, are targeted.

John “JP” Macdonald, a known member of the Regulators while he was a patrol deputy at the Century station, was promoted to Commander of Professional Standards.

That’s right, a legitimate member of what the department now considers a “Deputy Gang”, is the Commander of “Professional Standards”.

There is no alternate universe where this could possibly make sense.

And to add a little spice to the mix, it’s been an open department secret for quite some time that Mcdonald and his direct supervisor under the Professional Standards Divison, Chief Laura Lecrivain, allegedly have been entangled in a high-profile, inappropriate relationship — a blatant violation of department policy, not to mention a glaring ethical disaster.

Sources say that when Mcdonald tried to end the affair, Lecrivain allegedly completely lost control — showing up at his home in a full-blown meltdown, screaming at both Mcdonald and his wife in front of their house, turning a private scandal into a public spectacle. Yet these two shining examples of professionalism are tasked with overseeing and upholding the Department’s “Professional Standards”. Under their watch, ethics haven’t just taken a hit — they’ve been dragged into the gutter.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Since this article was published on June 1st, I have received numerous messages regarding high-profile promotions of tattooed personnel.

Allegedly, former Century station Captain Edmundo “Mundo” Torres covered up his Bandido tattoo in 2024 in order to promote to Commander.

Another honorable mention is Lancaster Captain Joey Fender who removed his tattoo years ago to promote, and was repeatedly passed up until Luna implemented the two-captain structure at “problem stations”. The move was designed to placate black activists, specifically in the Antelope Valley. Luna’s pandering to these activists is essentially what led to Deputy Trevor Kirk’s case being handed over to the Feds on a silver platter.

Luna’s “Deputy Gang Rat Squad”

The lawsuit explodes just as Luna’s highly politicized Internal Affairs Bureau, a.k.a. the “Rat Squad”, has been on an aggressive manhunt for tattooed personnel since shortly after Luna took office, all in a desperate bid to appease the County Board of Supervisors, the Civilian Oversight Commission (COC), and the political echo chamber that helped put him in office.

Back on March 16, 2023, a hair over 100 days into his administration, Luna announced how proud he was to be spending his 103rd day on the job sucking up to the COC at their first deputy gang hearing under his watch. This meeting followed the previously published scathing report on “Deputy Gangs” which painted an ugly picture of the LASD as overrun with these “dangerous cliques and subgroups dating back to 1973”.

But the deeper Luna pushes this narrative, the more ridiculous – and hypocritical – his position becomes. When grilled by the COC, Luna openly admitted his own second-in-command, Undersheriff April Tardy, sports a station tattoo. And yet, in May 2024, Tardy herself told The Los Angeles Times she still hadn’t removed or modified it:

“At this point, I have not had my tattoo covered or modified… but I am considering it.”

So while Luna keeps professing he’s cleaning house, his second-in-command – who sits just one promotion away from Luna’s own chair – proudly keeps her tattoo without consequence.

Meanwhile, the real terror campaign has been waged against the rank-and-file. The Current Report has confirmed that since 2023, Luna’s Rat Squad has gone into overdrive, recklessly crisscrossing city, county, and even state lines, deploying every form of intimidation, coercion, and harassment to track down tattooed deputies – many of whom have spotless records and decades of honorable service.

Sources have confirmed that multiple IAB investigators running Luna’s internal purge wear their own station ink:

• Ivan Brenes-Mendez — currently an acting IAB team lieutenant and former Palmdale Station deputy, confirmed to have a Palmdale Station tattoo. Conveniently, Brenes-Mendez also sits high on the lieutenant’s promotion list.
• Walter Arcos — former Norwalk Station deputy, now PPOA Board Member representing sergeants, lieutenants, captains and commanders. Arcos himself sports a Norwalk Station tattoo.
• Chad Vanden Berg — previously assigned to Lakewood Station as a deputy, confirmed to have a Lakewood Station tattoo.

In other words: Luna’s Rat Squad is made up of tattooed deputies interrogating tattooed deputies.

The irony.

Now, the charade has reached full blown absurdity. What began as a political stunt to curry favor with woke power brokers has now spiraled into a dangerous, department-wide purge – one that’s not only gutting department morale but, thanks to Captain Torres’ lawsuit, may soon have massive legal consequences.

Political Theater Masking a Department in Crisis

While Luna postures as the crusader who will rid LASD of “gangs,” the department is imploding under his leadership. Staffing levels have dropped to historic lows – 4,611 vacancies, the worst in department history – while deputy suicides have surged to record numbers. The few remaining sworn personnel are being worked to exhaustion, many doing the jobs of three people at once, as confirmed by Assistant Sheriff Jason Skeen’s testimony to the Civilian Oversight Commission.

Luna’s obsessive fixation on tattoos provides convenient cover for his utter failure to address the real operational, leadership, and staffing crises engulfing the department.

The Federal Reckoning

Captain Torres’ lawsuit could finally force the issue into open court, where Luna’s selective enforcement, retaliatory promotions, and weaponization of internal investigations may face the legal scrutiny they’ve so far dodged in the political arena.

If the court finds that Luna’s tattoo purge violates federal civil rights law, it won’t just expose Luna’s hypocrisy — it may also trigger a department-wide reckoning on how promotions, discipline, and internal affairs investigations have been manipulated under Luna’s watch.

For Sheriff Luna, who promised “reform”, this federal lawsuit could become the defining scandal of his tenure, exposing the rot beneath the virtue-signaling surface of his administration.

And for the deputies still trying to do their jobs under Luna’s erratic and politically charged rule, Captain Torres may be saying what many no longer feel safe to… enough is enough.