LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy expressed regret for sharing photos of a helicopter crash site where Kobe Bryant was killed with a bartender, but insisted he never identified the NBA superstar as one of the victims.
Joey Cruz, who was a deputy trainee at the time of the 2020 crash, admitted showing the bartender pictures from the crash but said there were no identifying features of the remains.
“I took it too far and did something I shouldn’t have,” Cruz told a Los Angeles federal jury on the fourth day of a trial where Bryant’s widow Vanessa is seeking damages from Los Angeles County over the sharing of the crash site photos, claiming it was an invasion of privacy and negligent. Cruz said he was “stressed and overwhelmed” in venting to the bartender, a close friend of his.
