COUNTYWIDE : Inmate Trampled by Cattle Files Lawsuit
An inmate who was trampled by cattle at the Ventura County Sheriff’s Honor Farm in Ojai has sued the county and the jail for negligence.
Sheriff’s Lt. Bob Taylor confirmed that Oliverio Lemus was injured while working on the farm on Oct. 17, 1989, but declined to discuss the incident because of the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in Ventura County Superior Court.
The suit claims that Lemus was trampled by a stampeding herd of cattle as he tried to guide them into their corral.
Lemus suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung in the stampede while serving a six-month sentence for drunk driving, said his attorney, Steven Horenstein. Lemus was hospitalized for four days after undergoing surgery at the Ventura County Medical Center, then sent to the jail, where he finished his sentence about three weeks ago, Horenstein said.
Lemus, a field laborer, “has been unable to work ever since,” and he may have to be operated on again because one of his ribs is not healing properly, Horenstein said.
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