hello my name is Captain Kelly Muniz commanding officer of media relations division of the Los Angeles Police Department this critical incident Community briefing is intended to provide you with information about a law enforcement related injury also known as a Leary that occurred in Hollenbeck division in the city of Los Angeles on June 18 2022 at around 9 30 pm O'Leary is a use of force incident where an individual requires hospitalization you're about to see relevant video footage and learn about other evidence and police procedures related to the case so you can have a better understanding of what occurred based on what we know right now the LAPD conducts very thorough use of force investigations which typically require investigators to interview multiple Witnesses view numerous hours of video footage and analyze a significant amount of forensic evidence we are still at the very early stages of this investigation which can often take up to a year to complete and our understanding of the incident may change as this additional evidence is collected analyzed and reviewed we also do not draw any conclusions about whether the officers acted consistent with our policies in the law until all the facts are known and the investigation is complete a word of caution the images and information you're about to see may be disturbing when a police officer uses Force to arrest the suspect or defend against an attack it can be graphic and difficult to watch in addition there may be strong language used by those shown in the video your discretion is advised especially for young children and sensitive viewers at approximately 8 30 PM Hollenbeck Patrol officers responded to an unpermitted concert at a construction site adjacent to the 600 block of South Anderson Street where a large group had gathered here is social media video that captured the concert goers actions prior to the officer's arrival [Music] [Music] without it you can always talk about it [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] L.A city 9-1-1 operator 419 oh yeah we have a large crowd defacing property right here around my building um six South Anderson Street um they're rathering at the Whittier Bridge they're lighting fires spray painting all over the buildings and defacing cars and public property how many people are there do you know probably about like 400. 400 gathered yeah underneath the bridge right right underneath the brand new Whittier Bridge yeah they just spray painted my whole building they're spray painting cars defacing property breaking into cars it's crazy it's all like it's just a bunch of young kids rowdy kids man okay yeah my name is my phone numbers I've already scraping in my whole entire building 360 Degrees all right we'll send officers over all right thank you as the officers arrived at the location the large group of approximately 400 to 500 unpermitted concert goers turned their attention toward the officers assaulting them by throwing rocks glass bottles and ignited fireworks at them as a result the officers initiated an officer needs help call here is social media video that captured the concert goers actions upon the officer's arrival welcome [Music] foreign [Music] Patrol officers assigned to Northeast Newton Central Olympic and 77th Street responded to the request for help they established Skirmish lines and a blocking Force to help disperse the unruly crowd at the location the officers made repeated attempts to peacefully disperse the crowd and gave several dispersal orders instructing the large group of unpermitted concert goers to leave the area however the large group refused to disperse and continued to assault the officers after nearly an hour the officers moved in to disperse the unruly crowd while dispersing the crowd several concert goers in the group once again began to throw rocks glass bottles and lit fireworks at the officers in response to the actions of the crowd officers used 40 millimeter less lethal launchers to Target the individuals who were seen throwing these objects at the officers while targeting an unidentified suspect who was seen throwing lit fireworks at officers one officer fired a 40 millimeter less lethal launcher foam projectile round at the suspect however the 40 millimeter round inadvertently struck another concert goer who was standing in the suspect's foreground the 40 millimeter less lethal device fires a foam projectile round the round strikes the person's body and it is intended to cause pain while there may be bruising it is designed to distribute energy over a broad surface area and not penetrate the body the primary target for this less lethal device is the navel or belt line the concert goer that was struck by the foam projectile round was later identified as Joseph larocca the unidentified suspect ran away from the location a portion of this incident was captured on the officer's body-worn video body worn video cameras are used by most officers assigned to field duties they are worn at chest level and capture a general perspective within the line of sight from that angle the angle of the camera prohibits viewers from seeing everything the officers saw and experienced upon activation both audio and video will turn on however body worn video cameras have a buffer of video without audio from the previous two minutes prior to activation this feature is designed to capture incidents that occur suddenly where an officer doesn't immediately activate the camera here is body worn video from the officers involved in this incident [Music] let's watch how funny those guys come in the Box over here okay yeah just watch out for that for sure guys we're taking bottles clearance your advice we're taking vinyls okay thank you all right yeah right here the officers on Anderson they're gonna go into a lot or push everybody South so nobody's coming through here okay all right foreign you're on the police action auditory area foreign um and we'll just be uh making sure nobody else is up here and F-16 dancing Commander hi sir we just heard from uh my supervisor that was on the uh C3 bridge that confirmed they did here in the first order and you do have resources responding for the health call of Southbound on Anderson from Fourth Street that will be monitoring the tech auto mode hey back up go back here [Applause] what's wrong [Applause] above [Applause] everything [Applause] get the [ __ ] back [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] yeah I'm out [Applause] black dirt black sweater with stone flowers leave the area [Applause] everybody else foreign [Applause] watch their footy tightening up [Applause] oh my God what happened leave the area tied it up [Applause] foreign [Applause] foreign [Applause] [Applause] come over here laroca was directed to the staging location to obtain medical treatment for an injury he sustained to his forehead however larocca left the area prior to receiving treatment It is believed the injury Sistine may have been caused by the less lethal projectile round that inadvertently struck him the following day laroca went to the hospital for the injury he sustained at the unpermitted concert and was admitted Department policy defines any Force option which results in an injury requiring hospitalization as a categorical use of force in accordance with that policy lapd's Force investigation division assumed investigative responsibility for this incident upon learning of the hospitalization Joseph larocca is a 41 year old resident of Glendale in the next several months the LAPD will continue to investigate and analyze this incident we will continue interviewing any new witnesses that may come forward and complete any forensic tests after the investigation is complete our critical incident review division will forward their findings to the chief of police who will make his recommendation to the civilian Board of police commissioners the board will evaluate the evidence to determine whether the officer's tactics and use of force in this instance met the high standards expected of all LAPD officers if you would like information on how the LAPD investigates all serious uses of force visit lapdonline.org where you can find the lapd's use of force policy and procedures thank you for taking the time to view this critical incident Community briefing