Anaheim Jail Camera Taped Alleged Attack on 2 Inmates

A former Anaheim Police Department jailer could face more than three years in prison if found guilty of charges that he choked one inmate until he became limp and twisted another’s handcuffed wrists until the prisoner screamed.

The jailer, William Harold Cross of Buena Park, resigned Feb. 28 after an internal investigation of his alleged actions, which were recorded on videotape, according to records filed at Central Municipal Court in Santa Ana.

Cross, 40, denied any wrongdoing in interviews with investigators, saying he wanted in one case to protect a less-experienced jailer from a violent prisoner, according to reports filed by district attorney investigator Tom Icenogle.

Cross, who worked as a jailer for 2 1/2 years, was charged July 10 with two counts of felony assault under color of authority. He was notified of the charges in a letter and appeared Tuesday before Orange County Municipal Judge James Brooks.

Cross was released after he promised to return to court Aug. 11 for his arraignment, Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Gregory L. Prickett said. The case might be moved to Municipal Court in Fullerton, he said.

Cross had no prior record of abuse, Prickett said.

“These allegations are extremely rare to be committed by law-enforcement agencies in Orange County,” Prickett said Friday. “In my seven years here, I’ve never dealt with anything like this.”

Cross, who is a former La Habra dispatcher, did not return repeated phone calls Friday.

In the first incident, videotape from a camera in a search cell in the Anaheim jail reportedly shows Cross twisting the right arm of Nels Anderson, 25, of Westminster and pushing him against a screen which covers an opening between the cell and jail office at 4:25 a.m. Cross then allegedly pushed Anderson, who was arrested on suspicion of cocaine intoxication, against the screen a second time, cutting Anderson’s face, according to court records.

The videotape, activated by a remote control device in the jail office, then reportedly shows Cross trying to clean the cut. “Stop touching me,” Anderson says, according to records filed by Icenogle.

Cross then allegedly placed his right arm around Anderson’s neck, apparently applying a chokehold, court records show. Anderson appears to go limp, his arms at his sides, as Cross is seen lowering him to the floor. Cross then appears to release his hold, and a moaning sound is heard, reports say.

The latest incident, on Jan. 18, 1989, received the attention of fellow jailer Pamela Jo Ingram, who allegedly saw Cross push Charles Casse, 37, into the same screen. She reported the incident, triggering the investigation, court records show.

The videotape reportedly shows Cross grabbing Casse’s wrists and then throwing him against the screen when Casse refused to stand with his legs apart at about 2 a.m. Cross, who is 5-foot-9 and weighs 220 pounds, later pulled Casse’s handcuffed arms behind his back, causing him to cry out in pain, according to court documents.

Casse, a Reno, Nev., excavator, had been arrested that night on suspicion of public drunkenness while vacationing in Anaheim.

Ingram, who had worked at the jail for only three weeks, told investigators that the prisoner had not been violent. She had left the cell, and Cross had taken her place, she said. She saw Cross throw the inmate against the screen, but did not witness the incident with the handcuffs, according to court records.

When Ingram saw the two men about five minutes later, Cross told her that the inmate had been in a fight with another prisoner in the cell and had suffered the gash on his forehead above the left eyebrow when the other prisoner pushed him into the cell bars, according to court records.

According to the report filed by Icenogle, “The videotape recording of each incident does not reveal any aggressive actions on the part of either prisoners, before, during or after the assault(s).”

Kenneth Washington, a detention officer and one of about 10 people interviewed in the spring by investigators, told them that Casse’s injuries were caused during a scuffle with a fellow cellmate, Mark Cole of Anaheim. But Cole told investigators that despite the scuffle, he never saw those injuries on Casse.

Casse’s cut was treated at United Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, documents show.

Anaheim police on Friday would not comment on the matter.

“It’s up to the judicial process to decide,” said Capt. Randall Gaston. “The matter will have to be resolved in the courts.”

Prickett said Sgt. Gordon Blair of the Anaheim Police Department obtained the videotapes and, after an investigation, went to the district attorney on March 3.

Casse, whose charges eventually were dropped, said Friday that he and others involved in the case were ordered by the district attorney to remain silent about the case.