Officer's Death Was Retaliation For LAPD Rape Case, Lawsuit Alleges

NORTHRIDGE, CA — The mother of a Los Angeles Police Department officer killed in a training exercise filed a lawsuit this week, claiming the department is engaged in a coverup.

Officer Houston Tipping died on May 29, three days after a training accident that caused spinal cord injuries, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Attorney Bradley Gage and Tipping's mother, Shirley Huffman, say Tipping was intentionally targeted and killed for his involvement in an internal sexual assault investigation.

Huffman is suing the Los Angeles Police Department and one officer she believes was responsible for Tipping's death.

LAPD does not comment on pending litigation, a representative told Patch. LAPD Chief Michel Moore, however, has called the allegations “baseless.”

"For the family, this is an unbelievable loss. He was in the prime of his life — about 32 years old. They'll never get to hug him again. They never get to laugh with him again or go on trips or even for dinner with their loved one again. It's a horrible, horrible situation and the family wants answers because they don't feel that they've been given the truth," Gage told reporters Wednesday. "They want justice, and they want to use this lawsuit... to help protect other officers."

Tipping was participating in a 5-day bicycle patrol training at Elysian Park Academy when he and another officer fell to the ground, causing Tipping's spinal cord injuries, according to the department. He died three days later at the hospital. He sustained rib and head injuries from medical intervention after the training exercise, according to the department and Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner.

Gage and Huffman tell a different story.

In July 2021, Tipping took a report of a sexual assault involving LAPD officers, the lawsuit alleges. One of the officers accused in the assault was present at Tipping's training scenario and used it as his "perfect opportunity" for retaliation, according to the lawsuit.

Tipping's injuries were far too extensive to have resulted from an accidental fall, Gage said.

According to the coroner's report, Tipping had a multiple cervical spine injuries, broken ribs and a head laceration. Tipping also had a liver laceration and multiple brain bleeds, Gage said.

Gage believes the officer involved picked Tipping up and slammed him on his head.

Additionally, Gage claims Tipping's rib injuries happened days before the fatal incident, and that people present at the training were aware it was already a "dangerous situation" for Tipping by the time of his death.

"That training program had a notorious reputation of being extremely violent," the suit claims. "It was widely known within the LAPD and by fellow officers as the 'Fight Club,' because of the opportunities to engage in intense and violent conduct."

Additionally, LAPD officers are no strangers to sexual assault or its coverup, Gage said. He referenced recent allegations that an LAPD Captain helped cover up sexual assault allegations against former CBS CEO Les Moonves and noted a recent example of a prison warden on trial for sexual assault.

"The fact that a member of law enforcement would engage in sexual assault is surprising but hardly without precedent," the lawsuit states. "Covering up sexual assaults or rapes is nothing new to the LAPD."

The department has not addressed many of Gage’s claims, but a representative addressed one previous accusation that the training scenario involved a simulated mob. They said the training scenario only involved Tipping and one other person.

The LAPD's Office of Constitutional Policing and Policy conducted a review of the training death, which consisted of witness accounts, the coroner's report, the incident scene, physical evidence, department documents and standards for training, Director of the LAPD’s Office of Constitutional Policing and Policy Lizabeth Rhodes said in her report to the LAPD Commission. Just as the coroner concluded in July, the Office of Constitutional Policing and Policy also ruled Tipping's death an accident.

The lawsuit calls into question the integrity of the LAPD's internal investigation of the incident, implying Moore would have had a heavy hand in such a review.