A new lawsuit filed on behalf of Kobe Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, names the four Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies who were accused of sharing photos of the Calabasas crash site.
In a Wednesday Instagram post, Bryant put them all on blast as it named Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the sheriff’s department and four deputies — Joey Cruz, Rafael Mejia, Michael Russell and Raul Versales — as defendants in the case.
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According to excerpts from the lawsuit posted to Bryant’s Instagram account, Bryant spoke with Sheriff Alex Villanueva on the day of the crash expressing concern that the crash site was “unprotected from photographers.” Villanueva assured her that the scene was being secured by deputies.
“According to the Sheriff’s Department’s subsequent investigatory report, one deputy in particular took between 25 and 100 photos of the crash scene on his personal cell phone, many of which had no conceivable investigatory purpose and were focused directly on the victims’ remains,” the suit states.
One deputy even went as far to show off the photos to a woman at a bar to impress her. A bartender overheard the conversation and reported him.
Bryant is suing for negligence, invasion of privacy and a 14th Amendment violation.
