Man Shot By Police In Azusa Alleges Officers Have Roughed Him Up Before

AZUSA (CBSLA.com) — A man shot by Azusa police overnight alleges that officers have roughed him up before and says he has video to prove his claim.

The shooting Thursday happened at around midnight at North Conwell Avenue and Renwick Road.

Azusa police say two officers were on routine patrol when they spotted a man walking and acting suspiciously when he saw the officers.

"He was walking down the street, sees officers, takes off running and enters his yard," said Eddie Aguirre of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

When law enforcement approached, Aguirre says the suspect threw a rake at them and then swung a shovel, hitting an officer in the chest. Police ultimately used a firearm to subdue him.

The suspect was subsequently identified by police as Jose Jesus Juarez, 45, of Azusa.

According to CBS2's Dave Lopez, Juarez was shot three times and was listed in stable condition at a hospital.

"He recognized the officer that was pursuing him this morning was the same one that took part in the beating two weeks earlier," said Attorney Luis Carrillo, who was hired by Juarez.

What Carrillo was referring to was an incident from June 12 that was allegedly caught on cellphone video.

In the footage, an Azusa police officer is seen hitting a man on the ground. That man, according to Lopez, was Juarez.

Police said Juarez was arrested for public drunkenness and sustained much of his facial injuries by slamming his own face on the concrete while yelling out, "I want to kill myself."

But Carrillo said, "that is a complete fabrication by the Azusa Police Department."

Carrillo said much of the June 12 incident was not captured on camera and that many of the blows happened prior to filming.

"It only shows the action sometime when he's on the ground after they had initially punched him and threw him to the ground," Carrillo said.

The Azusa Police Department has not commented on camera and would neither confirm nor deny if the officer involved in the shooting Thursday was the same one involved in the June 12 incident.

The department insists the officers were simply on routine patrol Thursday and weren't looking for Juarez.

Juarez, however, told his attorney that he's convinced it was the same officer and that's why he ran.

"What he was trying to do was protect himself from the officers and I don't know if he grabbed the shovel to put it in front of him. I don't know that, but he denies swinging the shovel," Carrillo said.

Carrillo says he will pursue a lawsuit for his client alleging police brutality.