A case out of Los Angeles is garnering attention as a deceased police officer’s family is claiming foul play in the death of the officer.
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Officer Houston Tipping died during an exercise, all while he was acting as a whistleblower in a case of alleged sexual assault of other members of law enforcement.
On Monday, Tipping’s family’s lawyer, Brad Gage, said Tipping was carrying out an investigation of an alleged gang rape by four LAPD members in July of last year. At least one of the officers was at the training where Tipping died.
“Our investigation has uncovered claims that one of the officers accused of sexual assault was at the training where officer Houston Tipping eventually died,” he said. “We have a witness that claimed that this occurred. We have documents that claim this occurred. And we also know from his family that officer Tipping, after spending a few years happy at LAPD, following these events, was searching for a job outside of the LAPD. [They say] he did not say why, but he clearly was distraught over something.”
The Los Angeles County Coroner reported earlier this year that Tipping passed away when he fell while gripping another officer in a “bear hug” during a class instruction he was conducting. However, a recent medical report noted that Tipping was “possibly dropped” on his head, according to Fox LA.
The police department’s account of what happened has differed from what the family and Gage are claiming.
The department said Tipping’s fall caused a spinal cord injury. While other officers tried to give him CPR and called Los Angeles Fire Department teams, he passed away after being transported to Los Angeles County USC Medical Center.
Tipping’s mother, Shirley Huffman, brought a wrongful death claim against the police department earlier this year, claiming that her son was beaten.
In July, Gage said Tipping was paralyzed and couldn’t breathe on his own, and “had a collapsed lung, he had a broken rib, and he had [a] liver so badly damaged they were not sure if he would be a suitable…organ donor.”
“When you look at all these horrific injuries, the truth is something went seriously wrong here,” he said. “I cannot fathom anything other than a severe beating. This raises a number of questions that the family would like to have answered.”
This week, Gage cited several issues with the autopsy report and the department’s account of what happened.
LAPD officer Houston Tipping died after a training exercise during which he was beaten & slammed to the ground by other cops. Now his lawyer says at the time he died he was investigating a gang rape by 4 cops, at least one of whom was part of the exercise. pic.twitter.com/hah4hztyx2
— Rebecca Kavanagh (@DrRJKavanagh) October 4, 2022
Gage also said his team has been informed by the LAPD that there is no video of the training, but he and the family don’t believe this is true. In addition, his team has medical documents that show a CPR device was never used on Tipping, which would have explained the officer’s broken ribs.
LAPD Police Chief Michael Moore refuted the family’s allegations in June.
“We also grieve his tragic death and I’m committed to ensuring that the investigation is comprehensive in understanding how this accident occurred and what added safeguards or other steps can be taken to ensure that it’s never experienced again,” Moore told the Los Angeles Daily News.