Former L.A. County undersheriff admits he had tattoo associated with alleged deputy gang

Former Los Angeles County Undersheriff Tim Murakami testified before the Civilian Oversight Commission Thursday, admitting under oath that he once had a tattoo associated with the Cavemen, an alleged deputy gang within the L.A. County Sheriff's Department.

Murakami, who was the second-in-command under former Sheriff Alex Villanueva, had previously refused to answer questions about whether he was affiliated with the group. But under oath Thursday, he publicly admitted for the first time that he had a Caveman tattoo on his ankle that he received when he worked at the East L.A. station in the 1980s.

He said he had the tattoo removed five years ago.

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Murakami said the Cavemen were a predecessor to the Banditos, another alleged deputy gang operating out of the East L.A. station. The Banditos were allegedly behind a vicious attack on fellow deputies during a party in 2018, which left five deputies injured.

The former undersheriff was unable to answer many questions about the Cavemen, including why or by whom he was recommended to join the group. He said there were one to 10 deputies present when he was tattooed, but he couldn’t remember their names.

He also said he didn’t believe his membership in the Cavemen presented a conflict of interest in making decisions about whether or not to investigate law enforcement gangs.

Former Sheriff Villanueva testified before the Civilian Oversight Commission in January, dodging questions about whether Murakami and other top officials in his department were gang members.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story suggested Murakami admitted membership in a deputy gang. While he admitted to having a tattoo associated with the group, he himself did not characterize it as a gang.

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