'Justified' or 'despicable'? The twisted tale of an LAPD excessive force case

LOS ANGELES — Pinned to the ground by the cop who lived across the street, Daniel Garza tried to mentally prepare for the moment his wrist would break.

The pain was already intense. What would it feel like if his wrist actually snapped?

"I was trying to be a man and trying to hold in the pain, but, man, that wristlock hurts," Garza recalled. "He's just bending it and bending it."

What preceded the altercation between Garza and his neighbor, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Mario Cardona, was a family drama involving Cardona's stepdaughter, whom Garza had dated. She claimed that Garza had briefly kidnapped her — which he denies.

What has happened in the more than five years since is a whirlwind of litigation and bureaucracy.

Garza alleges that the LAPD stood behind its officer instead of standing up for justice, and Cardona alleges that the city of L.A. threw him under the bus.

What's clear is only this: If you sue a cop in L.A. for excessive force, you could be in for a wild ride.

"This is the problem with the LAPD," said Jim DeSimone, Garza's attorney. "This is why people are out on the streets."

According to court records, Garza and Naomi Villanueva, Cardona's stepdaughter, had argued in the days leading up to the altercation.

Villanueva had moved out of her parents' home — across the street from Garza's house in Whittier — and in with a friend about 20 minutes down the road in Downey. She had dated Garza for about two years —