Man On Video Being Kicked, Punched By Deputies, Disappears After Release

RANCHO CUCAMONGA (CBSLA) — The family of Gerardo Vasquez says it's out of character for him to just disappear and not contact them. That's why they're now putting up flyers. They're worried that what they saw in that video might have left him with some serious injuries.

Isis Trujillo and her family have been posting flyers all over the Inland Empire, hoping someone can help them find their cousin. They don't know what happened to the 21-year-old after video was taken early last Friday morning, showing him being kicked and punched by two San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputies.

The sheriff's department says he was released from West Valley detention center. His family wants to make sure he's not injured and then see what he has to say about his confrontation with the deputies.

"When we saw him pinned down by two deputies on the floor, already handcuffed, we were like in shock," cousin Isis Trujillo said.

Trujillo says her cousin had gone out with friends earlier in the evening. She doesn't know why or how he ended up alone on Highland Avenue, and she doesn't understand why deputies were trying to detain him.

"He's never been in trouble with the law, we've never had trouble with him with the law, from what we know, nothing at all."

She does admit he struggled with depression in the past. That's one of the reasons they hung his picture around Community Hospital of San Bernardino. It's one of the places he had been treated.

"They released him and since then, he's been completely fine. He had a job, he was applying for college, he was doing great," Trujillo said. "We want to know both sides of the story, because we deserve to know both sides of the story."

The sheriff's department has put the deputy involved on administrative leave while they investigate the use of force in this incident. That's why they say they can't answer questions about what happened to Vasquez.