The chief of staff for the Los Angeles County district attorney was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
Joseph Iniguez, 36, serves as the chief of staff for George Gascón, who oversees the nation’s largest local prosecutorial office. Iniguez told the Times that his arrest was retaliation for filming his fiancé’s encounter with police at a drive-through restaurant in suburban Azusa.
Online jail records show Iniguez was booked on a misdemeanor on Dec. 11. He left early the next morning under a provision of the state penal code that allows an officer to release someone if “the person arrested was arrested for intoxication only, and no further proceedings are desirable.”
Iniguez told the newspaper that his fiancé was briefly handcuffed and detained, though not arrested. He said he filed an internal affairs complaint against the arresting officer with Azusa police.
Gascón’s office told the Times that they are aware of the incident and have “the utmost confidence” in Iniguez. Azusa police did not respond to the Times’ requests for comment.