Vanessa Bryant is exposing the sheriffs who did the unthinkable and share photographs of he deceased husband and daughter last year. Images of Kobe Bryant’s crash site and the bodies were reportedly circulated by first responders once they recognized the basketball legend. Bryant exposed them all today via her social media.
Vanessa shared several pages of the lawsuit she filed against the sheriffs last year. Initially it was unsure if she was able to share the names. However a judge eventually ruled in her favor.
One of the pages she posted was the front page of the suit, which featured the men’s names who took pictures of Kobe Bryant‘s crash site.
The pages detail how Joey Cruz, one of the deputies, showed photos of the accident to a bartender.
Cruz was allegedly boastful of the pictures from the crash site. The bartender, who worked at the Baja California Bar and Grill in Norwalk, was visibly disturbed afterwards. Another guest noticed, and when the bartender disclosed what he has seen, the guest filed a complaint with the sheriffs office immediately.
The customer described the bartender as “very, very disturbed” and said they called from their car to report it because the whole thing “did not sit well with [him] at all.”
Cruz is also accused of showing the photos to one of his nieces. The deputy is alleged to have made “a crude remark about the state of the victims’ remains”. He is seen zooming in on the images in security camera footage at the bar. Another officer, Deputy Michael Russell, allegedly sent photos to a friend he “plays video games nightly” with.
The lawsuit alleged that within 48hrs of the crash, the photos had been shared with several members of the police department. One person reportedly took between 50 to 100 photos.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva is said to have called those parties into his office. He told them if they deleted the images that they would not face discipline. He also lied to to internal affairs and didn’t tell them about the photos.
The unfortunate incident last January still has family, friends and fans in disbelief. The crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gigi and 8 other people was reportedly the cause of the pilots decision to fly into clouds in violation of federal rules.