Angel Bonilla: LAPD Sergeant’s 2024 Arrest of a Filming Bystander

Angel Bonilla is a Los Angeles Police Department sergeant who has been on the force since 1991 and was accused in July 2024 of arresting a bystander who was recording officers in public. He has also been named as a defendant in at least one earlier civil lawsuit tied to his patrol duties. What follows is what the public record shows about Angel Bonilla of the LAPD, the pending complaint against him, and the legal backdrop that makes the filming allegation significant.

Who Angel Bonilla Is

Angel Salvador Bonilla joined the LAPD on November 4, 1991 as a patrol officer. He worked his way from Police Officer I through Police Officer III and was promoted to sergeant on August 7, 2016.¹²

Public compensation data shows his total pay and benefits at about $275,000 in 2022, rising to roughly $323,900 in 2024, a jump driven largely by more than $122,000 in overtime that year.¹

The July 2024 Arrest of a Bystander Filming Police

On July 29, 2024, Bonilla allegedly arrested a man who was recording officers while they detained a teenager. According to the account documented by Film The Police LA, the man kept his distance from the scene, but Bonilla told him to stop following the officers as they moved the teenager. Bonilla then detained and arrested him, booking him under California Penal Code section 148(a)(1), the statute covering willful resistance, delay, or obstruction of a police officer.²

A complaint was filed against Bonilla over the arrest, alleging illegal detainment and false arrest. As of October 2024, the complaint was listed as pending.²

Is Filming Police Legal in California?

Yes. Under the First Amendment and California law, people have a well-established right to record law enforcement performing their duties in public places such as streets, sidewalks, and parks.³ California Penal Code section 148(g) states explicitly that recording police activity in a public setting does not, by itself, violate the law.⁴

Section 148(a)(1), the statute Bonilla used, makes it a misdemeanor to willfully resist, delay, or obstruct an officer. Legal analysts note that merely filming, or even being hostile or shouting at officers, does not meet the threshold; the statute requires significant interference with an officer’s ability to do the job.⁴ The friction between that broad statute and the protected right to record has been a recurring issue for the department. The LAPD’s Office of the Inspector General reviewed 148(a)(1) arrests in August 2018, examining who was arrested, why stops occurred, and whether officers attempted de-escalation.⁵

Earlier Lawsuit: Martinez v. City of Los Angeles

The 2024 arrest is not the first time Bonilla’s name has appeared in legal filings. He was one of several LAPD officers named as defendants in Martinez v. City of Los Angeles, a civil case arising from an October 24, 2009 incident. The plaintiffs alleged that during a pursuit of a motorcycle in the Hollenbeck area, an LAPD vehicle shined a blinding spotlight at the rider, causing a fatal crash.⁶

Bonilla submitted a declaration saying he and his partner observed the motorcycle committing traffic violations and initiated a pursuit after suspecting the driver was intoxicated. The trial court granted summary judgment for all defendants on July 21, 2014, and the California Court of Appeal affirmed on October 27, 2015. The courts held that the plaintiffs could not identify which officer directed the spotlight, and that all officers were immune from state tort liability under California Vehicle Code section 17004, which shields public employees from claims arising out of the operation of emergency vehicles during pursuits.⁶

How Complaints Against LAPD Officers Are Handled

If you want to know how a complaint like the one filed against Bonilla moves through the system, the path is layered. The LAPD’s Professional Standards Bureau investigates misconduct allegations internally, and the independent Office of the Inspector General monitors those investigations for thoroughness. The Inspector General reports to the civilian Police Commission rather than to the LAPD Chief of Police.⁷ Actual discipline, however, is imposed by the Chief of Police alone. The Police Commission has no authority over individual disciplinary decisions, a limitation city officials have criticized as leaving civilian oversight without real teeth.⁸

An officer facing discipline can appeal to an independent hearing examiner or a Board of Rights panel. Under California law, the specific outcome of any discipline is confidential and generally not disclosed to the person who filed the complaint.⁷

Looking Up Records on Angel Bonilla or Other LAPD Officers

Some officer records are now public. In August 2025, the California Police Records Access Project launched a searchable database of roughly 1.5 million pages of records from about 12,000 misconduct and use-of-force cases at nearly 700 California law enforcement agencies. The database, developed by UC Berkeley, Stanford University, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, and other partners, is searchable by officer name, agency, and case type.⁹ The underlying records became releasable through California Senate Bill 1421, enacted in 2018, and SB 16, enacted in 2021, which created exceptions to the state’s longstanding confidentiality rules for peace officer personnel files.¹⁰

1
Watch The Watchers. Angel S. Bonilla
2
Film The Police LA. Officer Profile: Angel Bonilla
3
ACLU of Northern California. Know Your Rights: Police Interactions
4
PORAC Legal Defense Fund. Filming Police Activities in California
5
LA Office of the Inspector General. Significant Reports
6
CaseMine. Martinez v. City of Los Angeles, B259980
7
LA Office of the Inspector General. FAQs
8
Los Angeles Times. LAPD Police Commission Civilian Oversight Charter Change
9
CalMatters. Police Misconduct Records Database
10
LAPD Online. Senate Bill 1421 and Senate Bill 16