Ex-Jail Inmate Sues Sheriff, Alleges Beatings
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A black former inmate of a Saugus jail filed a civil rights lawsuit Thursday against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department alleging that he was beaten by deputies who he said are members of a white supremacist group.
Clydell Crawford, 26, of West Covina alleged that he was beaten and his leg broken on Dec. 2 while he was an inmate at the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho. He said the six to eight deputies who allegedly beat him after removing him from a medium-security dormitory were members of the Wayside Whities, a large group of jailers who he said take their name from the jail’s former name, Wayside Honor Rancho.
A sheriff’s spokesman declined to comment on the allegations by Crawford and other inmates or to comment on whether such a group exists. But he said the alleged beating incident was under investigation.
The suit seeks more than $1 million in damages.
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