Instead Of Telling Loud Garage Band Members To Be Quiet, Deputy Jams With Them
COMPTON (CBSLA.com) — It was a Friday afternoon in Compton when Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Miguel Garcia Jr. was wrapping up an investigation on East Raymond Street when he heard live rock music coming from a house down the street.
"I was goofing off and I told my partner 'wow, they sound really good," Garcia said.
The deputy decided to see where the music was coming from. When he walked up to the gate, as the teenage members of the garage band "Misled Youth" were rehearsing, they all thought he was going to shut them down.
"We were jamming and he showed up and we were like 'oh, we are in trouble.'" one of the band members said.
Instead, the veteran deputy told them he used to play guitar.
"I'm not sure exactly what happened, but at some point they put the guitar in my direction and I said let's see what you got," Garcia Jr. said.
While the deputy borrowed Rony Córdoba's guitar, Córdoba grabbed his cell phone and took video of the unexpected collaboration. The sheriff's department later posted on its Facebook page. It's been viewed nearly 60,000 times.
Garcia got his first guitar at 15 and remembers how much music meant to him, growing up in South Los Angeles. He says, it only made sense to encourage the members of the band. It's better they're here than on the streets, he said.
Deputy Garcia says playing with the teens and connecting with the community is why he joined the sheriff's department.
"I didn't become a police officer go gout and start arresting everyone, I became a police officer because I have an overwhelming love for people."
