A violent gang member who killed two police officers was off the radar of Los Angeles County probation officers for 16 months, despite his resume meaning he required supervision, records show.
District Attorney George Gascon had given Justin Flores a plea bargain last year in a gun case that resulted in a 20-day sentence instead of 18 months — which would have kept him behind bars on the day two officers were killed at a motel in the suburb of El Monte, California. Flores was later fatally shot.
The intense fallout led Gascon to defend his actions, saying Flores did not have a violent past and that the lenient gun charge was warranted. But the convicted felon had a history of assault, burglary, and drug cases and was assigned a probation officer.
The Los Angeles County Probation Department Oversight Commission looked at the case and found month after month that officials had no contact with Flores, according to a report obtained by the Washington Examiner.
LOS ANGELES DA GASCON DENIES KILLER HAD A VIOLENT PAST
“No record of assigned Probation Department staff initiating ‘desertion’ during 3-month period of no contact with probationer,” the report read for June 2021. This was followed up with an entry for December 2021 saying, “First and only in-person meeting with assigned Probation Department staff and probationer.”
Officer Joseph Santana and Cpl. Michael Paredes were killed on June 14. The report note from that month indicates that in addition to the only in-person meeting, staff spoke to Flores four times on the phone during the past 16 months.
“Probation Department staff continuously left voicemails for probationer ordering him into the office and received no reply,” the report read. “Probationer categorized by Probation Department as medium risk based on relevant factors; unknown if gang enhancements and possession of deadly weapon was factored in.”
Flores was also ordered by the court to complete drug tests, but he apparently never did this, according to the report.
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“The outcome in this particular case … was appropriate,” Gascon said during a press conference following the officers’ deaths. “[Justin] Flores had no history of violence and very little contact with the criminal justice system for 10 years.”
