Sheriff’s Inquiry Clears Deputy in Killing of Man
A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy did not violate department regulations when he killed a 28-year-old father of four at Willowbrook Park last Labor Day, according to an internal affairs investigation report released Monday.
“We’ve completed our administrative investigation, and we concluded that the involved deputy reacted appropriately and within departmental regulations,” Sheriff’s Deputy Angela McLaughlin said. Deputy Michael Staley, 37, shot Steve Clark Clemons, 28, in the back of the neck last Sept. 2.
Witnesses claimed that Clemons was unarmed, fleeing with a beer in his hand at the time of the shooting. Authorities claimed that he had pointed a gun at a deputy, then hurled it into a nearby lake. A loaded .25-caliber revolver was found in the lake.
The sheriff’s homicide bureau, the district attorney’s office and the county grand jury also have investigated the Clemons shooting and no criminal charges have been filed.
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