Vanessa Bryant Sues L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. Over Leaked Crash Site Photos

 Written By @cabbagepatchgrl

Vanessa Bryant is moving forward with suing the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department for leaking photos of the helicopter crash that killed her husband, Kobe Bryant, and her 13-year-old daughter Gigi Bryant.

According to TMZ, Vanessa is claiming that the L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. caused her severe emotional distress when deputies took personal photos of Kobe and Gigi Bryant. The lawsuit that was obtained by TMZ says, “no fewer than 8 sheriff’s deputies at the crash site, pulled out their personal cell phones and snapped photos of the dead children, parents, and coaches. The deputies took these photos for their own personal gratification.”

The lawsuit says the photos were the topic of discussion at the Sheriff’s Dept, and deputies were showing the unsettling images around, even when it had nothing to do with the investigation. It was also noted in the lawsuit that a deputy had shown the photos to a woman at a bar that he was trying to impress, and a bartender overheard the discussion and called the Sheriff’s department.

According to Vanessa, Sheriff Villanueva tried to cover it up by telling the other sheriffs who responded to the crash that they would not be disciplined if they deleted the photos. The suit is claiming that the purpose of his talk was to encourage the destruction of evidence. It also claims that Villanueva did not tell the families about the photos; they only found out by media when the story came out.

The lawsuit claims that Vanessa is in fear that the photos will be leaked. The Sheriff never gave the families any straight answers until now. “Ms. Bryant feels ill at the thought of strangers gawking at images of her deceased husband and child, and she lives in fear that she or her children will one day confront horrific images of their loved ones online.”

The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages and punitive damages.

The Sheriff’s office was contacted, but they have yet to respond.