The Antelope Valley Times

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UPDATED: Palmdale deputy arrested for rape, soliciting bribes

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PALMDALE  – A Palmdale Sheriff’s deputy was arrested Monday on 11 felony counts, including sexual penetration under the color of authority, rape under fear or duress, and soliciting bribes from alleged victims.

Jose Rigoberto Sanchez was arrested at his home around 5:30 p.m. Monday and is being held in lieu of $1.4 million bail. The 28-year-old had been relieved of duty with pay since 2010 and was relieved of duty without pay on Monday.

The alleged offenses occurred while Sanchez was on duty in Palmdale, according to a press statement by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff’s officials said there was one alleged rape victim, and the rest of the charges stem from Sanchez trying to solicit bribes from individuals he was threatening to arrest.

Investigators with the Sheriff’s Department Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau (ICIB) launched a six-month investigation in 2010 after receiving a tip from an informant. The case was turned over to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in January of 2011.

Sanchez was a seven-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and was most recently assigned to patrol at the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station, according to the LASD press statement.

His next court date is scheduled for Wednesday, July 31, at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

There is no additional information at this time, and a booking photo will not be released, according to the LASD statement.

UPDATED: The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office has released more details on the charges against the former Palmdale deputy. According to an LADA statement issued Tuesday (July 30):

“Sanchez was charged with soliciting a bribe from a female driver he pulled over in Palmdale while on duty on Sept. 22, 2010. Sanchez allegedly offered not to arrest her on an outstanding warrant in exchange for sex. Two nights later, he pulled over another female on suspicion of DUI and allegedly solicited a bribe in the form of sexual activity.

The case is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Rosa Alarcon with the Justice System Integrity Division. If convicted, [Sanchez] faces up to life in state prison.”

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Filed Under: Crime/ Safety

61 comments for "UPDATED: Palmdale deputy arrested for rape, soliciting bribes"

  2. well today in the paper i flipped the first page to see antelope valleys most wanted
    and was surprised to see that the first person on the list was dean klein wanted for not reporting to his parole officer, would that be do to the fact that he was killed last month. wouldn’t the person who killed him be #1 on the list of av’s most wanted!!! and also jacob loiacono who is wanted for “suspicion” of burglary! really “SUSPICION” so what happened to innocent until proven guilty. give me a break the palmdale sheriffs department is a joke instead of putting real criminals who are wanted FOR committing REAL crimes, like murder not people who are wanted because of suspicion. i seen on the news, on the internet and paper portraying him has a criminal who is guilty before proving anything, how about putting up the picture of the [removed] Palmdale Sheriff’s deputy who was arrested on 11 felony counts, including sexual penetration under the color of authority, rape under fear or duress, and soliciting bribes from alleged victims. why is his picture not shown at all but yet someone under suspicion and someone who is dead both are pictured on the tv, newspaper and internet. but not the real criminal [removed] cop!!

  4. No mugshot? There’s almost always a mugshot of arrested suspects. I think it would do a lot for the credibility of the LASD to release his mugshot. To me it shows a certain amount of favoritism not to release his mugshot. I wonder what specific reason LASD has for not doing so.

  5. Every other “sex offender” is ripped to shreds on this website, why not this Deputy? All of the accused are supposed to be presumed innocent, but for some reason there are a lot more supporters for this guy. Why the double standard?
    What happened to the “if we can save 1 child” comments?
    If it took 3 years of thorough investigation by authorities to arrest this guy, there must be a pretty good case.
    There are sex offenders, and then there are sexual predators…this guy was/is a predator.
    Wasn’t there another story yesterday about a LASD being arrested for a sex crime here in the area? Power is scary.

    • Los Angeles County Sheriffs are very very political. Not like LAPD or any city police department for that matter. The amout of tape they had to get through to finally get an arrest on this guy was crazy I am sure. No department wants to arrest one of their own so I am sure they have a very solid case against him. Especially after a 2 and a half year investigation which took 6 months to make it to the DA and another 2 years on the DA’s desk. Any civilian would have been in jail already. They continued to pay the guy for 2 and a half years too. How do us tax payers get that back? From the 50 cents a day in prison wee will pay him which also comes from tax payers. He deserves to rot in hell for the rest of his life. People in the community are suppose to be able to trust and look up to us as law enforcement. I think the DA should make an example out of this rogue deputy and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. He has given a bad name to all law enforcement continuing to do the right thing day in and day out. Just remember most of us do this job for the right reasons and not to cause havoc.

      • “Just remember most of us do this job for the right reasons and not to cause havoc.”
        I believe that is a true statement. I also believe that bringing charges against him brings its own set of issues. It opens all those complaints up to be lawsuits against the LASD. I am sorry for that.
        No matter what the “victims” back ground is, they deserved to be treated according to proper procedure. The relationship between LASD and many law abiding citizens is shaky already, this case doesn’t help.

  6. I know of several dirty/corrupt LASD deputies. Brian Mills was a deputy in the AV busted for fooling around with an underage girl in his patrol car. Many deputies knew he was a perv, other females he came in contact with complained and it still took a few years to get him and when they did, he plead out to a far far lesser charge due to his LASD service.

    The problem is that in the LASD, they learn to cover up and cover for each other after working years together in custody in the sewers of the county jail system. They know who the bad deputies are but look the other way at their proclivities thinking they’ll either straighten up or that somebody else will catch them.

  8. Rappers have made songs about police misconduct since the 80’s. Civil rights groups have complained about police misconduct since forever. The DOJ just completed research on the AV Sheriffs and found numerous cases of police misconduct. There are videos on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, etc… movies, TV shows…all show how corrupt cops can be. This is not one bad apple, this is the norm. Wake the hell up!

  9. I really hate that this type are hired by LASD. Why didn’t he get caught sooner? I too will be ever so cautious when being pulled over (not a habit for me). A good idea is to drive directly to L.A. Sheriff office (Palmdale or Lancaster) or to a well lit area. We already have the thugs to worry about now LASD…@Ed Galindo: Why was he arrested?

    • Unfortunately, this type of misconduct is not exclusive to our neighborhoods. And I believe the training is more to blame than the selection of characters. Also, some of these deputies are recent or current service members who don’t know the difference between an insurgent and a citizen. More should be done to ensure the mental and emotional stability of these deputies before unleashing them on the public.

      • “Also, some of these deputies are recent or current service members who don’t know the difference between an insurgent and a citizen”

        Are you serious??? How many times did you serve over seas? 3x for me, I know the difference between an insurgent and a citizen, I just don’t like ignorant idiots like you. If anything, being a service member has shown me how important it is to have empathy and compassion for people, and to win the “hearts and minds”.

        • Good for you! Maybe you should go share your expertise with the 3000 boys over at men’s central.

        • service member please excuse ROME and his ignorant statement. He obviously hasnt served our country the way you, my dad, husband son, both grandpas and great grandpas have!!! What does LACSD expect when they lower their standards when hiring! It should be a position earned and they should be held accountable, like the courts will make Mr Sanchez will be very soon. PS i’m sure ROME has shared some things.. at mens central.

          • Yes, service member, please do excuse the general tone in my earlier comment. I was referring to the ‘few’ deputies who train and are trained to treat not-yet convicted inmates without the dignity afforded to citizens of the United States. This deputy was afforded more than 3 years of paid “innocent until…” time and I hope that proper justice is meted out. I did not include those who have served, in and out of military service, with integrity, honor and respect.

        • U are exactly right, our police are becoming paramilitary and the lines can be blurred

      • @rome: actually, just the opposite. Very few newer cops are veterans. This came about when the libs decided cops should be more like social workers than a para-military organization they have always been, and still should be. Veterans are just “way too mean” for today’s police forces, according to the libs. The recent wave of misconduct can be directly attributed to the LASD hiring frenzy 5-8 years ago, when they advertised on billboards in the ghetto, looking for deputies. Guess what? If you advertise in the ghetto, guess who applies? Then the lowering of hiring standards, and background investigators being overridden by higher-ups in the DQ process, led to most (not all) of this.
        @service_member:thank you for your service, sir. Pay no attention to the misinformed on this site.

      • Really? Wow! Target service members. Thats low. Lets start by asking how many times have you gone over seas? 4x for me and I would never confuse an insurgent to any civilian in America. You clearly have no idea what we do everyday. You deserve to sit in a cell with this shit head for making such ignorant comments about the people giving you the rights to have such thoughts. Seeing what I saw in combat forever gave me more compassion in life. I promise that you can’t even began to grasp the things I have seen. Not all police are corrupt and if you really compare them to the thugs on the streets your a lot dumber then I thought. Hope a LASD pulls you over one night and just gives you every charge he can in that well lit are you took him to and I hope he starts with failure to stop. Less than 35% of deputies have even served in the military. This guy didn’t serve so why even compare him to us? I can’t believe people like you get to live in this country. I wouldn’t fight for you I’d leave you on the battlefeild.

        • Wow, Mr. compassionate freedom fighter says that he gave me the right to have thoughts and that I deserve to sit in a cell because of a comment. Is that what you were fighting for, god? What makes you so righteous? I grew up in a combat situation right here in L.A. and you probably couldn’t imagine the things I have seen. Sure all police are not corrupt, but they all know one that is.

    • I BELIEVE THAT EVERYDAY REGULAR CITIZENS DONT HAVE ANYTHING TO WORRY ABOUT… IN CASES LIKE THIS ONE, LEOs LIKE THIS (Law Enforcement Officers)
      TARGET STREET PROSTITUTES, JUNKIES, GANG MEMBERS, PEOPLE ON PROBATION OR PAROLE, UNDOCUMENTED FEMALES WITH NO DRIVERS LICENSE, BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT THESE PEOPLE WILL NOT REPORT THEM, BECAUSE THEY RATHER GET AWAY WITH WHAT EVER LAW VIOLATION THEY COMMITED AND WONT BE FACING JAIL TIME, FINES AND MAYBE A LONGER RAP SHEET! IF YOU READ PARAGRAPHS FOUR AND FIVE YOU WILL SEE WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT! BASICALLY HE WAS BUSTED BY A CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANT, MEANING SOMEONE THAT MADE A DEAL WITH THE D.A IN ORDER TO LESSEN THEIR OWN CRIME.

  10. I am a woman and I will not get outside of my car for a cop if he stops me. I want his name and badge number so I can call the station to check on him. I believe our LASD are here for us and there is always a bad one to give them a bad name. Remember he’s only one. Support our police!

    • You can always request that the Watch Commander show up prior to giving anything to the officer that pulled you over and they MUST comply. Furthermore, if an unmarked Crown Victoria pulls you over, you can tell them you’d prefer to have an officer in a black & white show up to go over whatever it is you’re being pulled over for. Again, they have to comply.

        • Do your research. They have to comply, does not mean they will because in their eyes, if you disobey, they’ll call it resisting arrest and use ‘necessary force’. If you get pulled over, record the entire situation with your phone. If they rip you out of your vehicle even asking them, you’ll have evidence that’ll win in court.

          • Man, what world do you live in? Must be nice to live in a place like that where the courts are just and the police are law-abiding and fair. Ask the whole neighborhood of people who recorded the guy in Bakersfield what happened to their phones.

          • I live in a world where it is not hard to outsmart some of the less-than-average IQ LEOs. Obviously I said record being stopped, because we don’t live in a world where courts are just and LEOs are law abiding. As long as you possess the knowledge and gall to outsmart them, you’ll have the upperhand should you end up in court with sufficeint evidence. More often than not, it is just testimony with nothing to support the claim. If you have something to back it up, and you put the info out there, your chances are that much better. I never said it would work, but it is still part of their compliance.

          • Yeah, that’s what all of us in the North East San Fernando Valley thought after the Rodney King video. Or with the invention of patrol car dash cameras.

          • If a black and white is requested the unmarked officer will still be the only officer talking to you because he is the only one with probable cause the officer in the marked car will stand by and observe. In most cases an unmarked car wont pull you over. I mean you really have to do something wrong. They are not patrol cops. They have other things to be doing that are more important then trying to give you a ticket. If you want his watch commander to show up then that’s not a problem as soon as you are secured in hand cuffs out of your vehicle we will call and have them right over for you. Im not risking my life well you try and determine how your gonna escape from me. It is a red flag as soon as people start asking for watch commanders and other marked cars to show up. Usually people are trying to delay the inevitable. You would be a lot better of accepting the ticket and fighting him in court if you really believe you are not guilty. If to cop doesn’t have much on you he wont show up at court and your case is dropped. Be prepared to pay your whole fine to the max that day though if your gonna try and fight him. I’ve only seen a few win in court.

    • @Up2here: good luck with that one. The courts have ruled over and over the police can order you out of your car for NO reason at all. If you refuse, the cop will ask you a second time. When you refuse again, the minimum that will (and should) happen is that you will be sprayed with pepper spray and taken to jail. No cop in his right mind is going to let you start making phone calls before you answer his questions and follow his lawful orders.
      @Mr.Mister: Sure, you can “request” the W/C show up at your traffic stop. You can also request Barack Obama show up. The truth is, neither of those is going to happen! Do YOUR research…in somewhere besides the law library in jail! The W/C does not leave the station to come hear your gripe at a traffic stop. At most, you can request the field sergeant, and he may show up. However, if he is delayed, and you still refuse to go along with the program (a legal stop), then plan on going jail. Refuse to sign your citation? That will land you in jail too,as it should. Also, plan on having your car gone over with a fine tooth comb to make sure every violation is properly documented on your citation (since you want to document everything yourself with your phone). I’m not sure why your parents brought you up so poorly to disrespect all of law enforcement because of the poor behavior of a few. Don’t get me wrong, if this guy did what they say he did, then by all means he needs to be in prison. However, if the accusers were low-lifes with no morals, and offered sex in exchange for avoiding jail, then that should come out too, and this guy should at minimum be fired, and get NO $$$ from the Sheriff, which I’m sure is the underlying motivation behind this. We shall see!

      • Well seeing as how I have an immaculate record, I have nothing to worry about. As far as requesting POTUS, c’mon. And I was brought up to respect those who earn respect and give it. And not to respect those who DEMAND it and EXPECT it just because of their work uniform. Just because someone has a badge or stripes, does not mean they are a respectable person. If you succumb to the ‘respect me because of my title’ BS, then that is your choice. I will continue to award my respect if earned. Watching deputies make music with their sirens, tazing helpless toads, and picking on 15 year olds playing tag on a summer night in a cul-de-sac does not earn my respect. Sure, not all deputies/sheriffs/detectives are that immature or sex offenders, but I will judge their character based on their actions prior to any respect being issued.

        • You really have to become a pretzel to keep with how u have to keep justifying your opinions. U sound like a very fearful person. U respect president Obama cuz he’s the President we choose, there is no but, you were passionate about the Zimmerman jury verdict, but did u can disagree with O.J. but that’s different cuz it’s u? I’ve done my research I lived thru LSD hell. I use to think like u.

  11. Lets just see what comes out in a trial, he has not been convited of anything yet, in the mean time keep in mind the AV is full of people that will say anything to try and get money and they know the Sheriff’s Dept has deep pockets.

  12. I truly think this is a disgusting way to represent palmdale or any community. Glad this guy will be behind bars for a long time! Lasd protects and serves continue to do so!!!!!

  14. Is there no way to redeem that salary taken, not earned? This is ludicrous! This is why unions are not as great as most people think.

  16. Absolutely disgusting!! So much for ‘protect and serve’. More like ‘threaten and get off on it’.

    • “To Protect and to Serve” is the motto of the LAPD. “A Tradition of Service Since 1850” is the motto of the LASD. Doesn’t change what this idiot has done, but if you want to talk smack, at least get your info right.

      And yes, this former LEO needs to be prosecuted to the fullest. His actions are a disgrace to the badge, and its people like him who continue to undermine the public’s trust in law enforcement. Get rid of him, make sure the public is fully aware that allegations of misconduct are taken seriously, and that such actions will lead to you being dealt with the same as any criminal. Don’t hide it, or sweep it under the rug.

      • Thanks for the correction. How about ‘A Tradition of Disservice Since 2003’? Assuming he was a seven year veteran of the force prior to his paid absence…

        • I would fathom that they wanted to make are all their i’s were dotted and their t’s were crossed. They probably wanted to make sure they had left no stone unturned, and had the absolute best case possible to make the charges stick. Im sure they would not want to just toss a charge at this guy, have it not stick, and then call it a day. Their is so much scrutiny on law enforcement about cover ups and such that the brass was not about to take the heat for that BS, so they wanted to make sure they have as air tight of a case as possible so their is no possible way that this guy will slip through and have the LASD blamed for now doing its job.

          But, he still has to have his day in court. If I was on the jury, I would still have to put aside any preconceived notions of guilt, and follow all the rules, listen to witnesses, see all the evidence, and then make a decision based on what a reasonable person would conclude. That’s how the system works.

    • because due to unions and job protections its just as hard to remove a bad cop as it is to remove a bad teacher. That and deputies don’t like to arrest one of their own so time is on their side – victims move away or give up and fail to pursue the case and then the investigation gets dropped.

      Its amazing what deputies can get away with, this deputy just went too far and crossed the line.

      • The system is set up to protect the badge. Worst still is the system that deals with DA’s. They virtually can’t be held accountable for anything.

  18. Is there any way we can get a picture of this guy…There maybe additional people/”victims” that could of had contact with him. If he was arrested there should be a mug shot at least! just saying!!