City Blocks Release of Body-Cam Footage
According to filings from the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, the department secured a protective order preventing certain evidence — including body-worn camera footage from the incident — from being released to the public.
The original lawsuit paints a vivid picture of a raid gone disastrously wrong.
Officer Mistook Clinic for Cannabis Grow Site
The complaint alleges that LAPD narcotics officer Kenneth Franco wrongly assumed the medical imaging clinic was operating as an illegal cannabis cultivation site. After obtaining a warrant, a team of officers swept the building.
They searched every room and found nothing unlawful. But trouble struck when one officer entered the MRI chamber, ignoring warnings about the device’s powerful magnetic field.
The machine immediately yanked the rifle hanging from the officer’s right hand, “securing it to the machine,” the lawsuit said.
Emergency Shutdown Destroys MRI
Rather than seek help from an employee or wait for the manager, the officer “unilaterally” decided to break the seal and hit the emergency shutdown button. That action triggered a rapid loss of the MRI magnet’s superconductivity, releasing roughly 2,000 liters of helium gas and causing extensive damage to the machine.
