LAWSUIT

L.A. Sheriff’s Deputy Shared Photos of Kobe’s Copter Crash to Impress a Woman at a Bar, Vanessa Bryant Alleges

Vanessa Bryant made a personal appeal to the sheriff to close the crash to photographers.

Vanessa Bryant, wife of the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant, has filed a legal claim against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for allegedly failing to investigate and delete photos taken by deputies of the helicopter crash that killed her husband and 13-year-old daughter, People reports. Kobe and Gianna Bryant died in a helicopter crash that killed seven others Jan. 26. Vanessa Bryant is seeking compensation for emotional damages caused by two L.A. firefighters and law enforcement officers allegedly taking photographs of the scene for personal rather than investigative purposes. Multiple deputies later shared the photos, Bryant alleges, including one male deputy who showed them to a woman at a bar to impress her.

Vanessa Bryant’s claim reportedly states that the prospect of the photos leaking deepened her distress, and she previously appealed to the sheriff to close off the area around the crash as a no-fly zone to prevent further illicit documentation. “This claim is intended to hold the Sheriff’s Department accountable and to prevent future misconduct,” a spokesperson for the family said. “When a family suffers the loss of loved ones, they have the right to expect that they will be treated with dignity and respect.”