FBI to Probe Man’s Death in Jail Ward : Law enforcement: Officials will look for possible civil rights violations. Witnesses told the county board that excessive force was used while the victim was in the custody of the Sheriff’s Department.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Friday opened a preliminary investigation into the case of a man who died while in the custody of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies.

John Bernard Wiley Jr. died in the jail ward of County-USC Medical Center on March 4.

Sheriff’s officials said law enforcement officers were trying to restrain Wiley when he stopped breathing. But several hospital workers who said they witnessed the death have told authorities that they believe Wiley was the victim of excessive police force.

The FBI joins at least three local agencies investigating the death of Wiley, who was allegedly taunted and beaten by sheriff’s deputies before dying of unknown causes while tethered to a gurney.

Sheriff’s homicide investigators, the district attorney’s special investigations division and the Los Angeles Police Department have opened inquires into Wiley’s death.

FBI spokesman Ron Twersky said a team of agents is looking into possible civil rights violations. The result of the inquiry will be forwarded to the Justice Department’s civil rights division for an opinion on whether to file charges, Twersky said.

According to sheriff’s and LAPD officials, Wiley fell down a flight of stairs in an altercation with LAPD officers, who had responded to a domestic violence call at the Mar Vista home of Wiley’s former wife. He was taken to the jail ward by LAPD officers for treatment of a head injury sustained in the fall and was to be booked on suspicion of assaulting an officer.

Sheriff’s officials, who operate the jail ward, said Wiley became combative while being booked. According to the department’s initial report on the incident, “several deputies and one LAPD officer were in the process of attempting to restrain the suspect when he stopped breathing.” Doctors who were in the jail ward could not revive Wiley.

The hospital workers who say they witnessed the deputies’ handling of Wiley gave authorities a different version of the incident.

In a letter to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in March, the employees asked that the death be investigated: “We believe (the incident) involved excessive force and unlawful conduct . . . and we believe this incident needs to be investigated.”

Several of the workers declined to be interviewed Friday and others could not be reached for comment.

Alice Royal, one of the employees who signed the letter sent to the Board of Supervisors, declined to comment on the incident when reached at her home Friday. Royal said all of the witnesses were under pressure to keep quiet.

“We’ve been told that we could lose our jobs over this,” she said.

Mark Masaoka, a field representative for Local 660 of the Service Employees International Union that represents three of the workers, said that although the employees have not been officially told to refrain from discussing the incident, “there were some secondhand verbal comments made that may have discouraged some of the nurses (from talking).”

Adelaida De La Cerda, a spokeswoman at County-USC Medical Center, said hospital officials and personnel were cooperating with agencies investigating the death.

Attorney Eric Ferrer, who is representing Wiley’s former wife, Ileana Wiley, said he was told by several witnesses that Wiley “was conscious, not boisterous and complied with deputies’ orders” when brought to the jail ward.

“Then (the deputies) chided him, antagonized him and called him names,” Ferrer said he was told by the witnesses. Eventually, Ferrer said, “(Wiley) was attacked by the deputies, thrown to the ground and something was put over his head. It’s more than coincidence that he then went into cardiac arrest.”

The coroner’s office has not released the results of its autopsy. Coroner’s spokesman Scott Carrier said officials are awaiting the results of toxicology and other tests.

At this point, the Sheriff’s Department, LAPD and district attorney’s office describe their inquires as routine, the kinds of investigations that are conducted whenever anyone dies while in custody or as the result of an officer-involved shooting.

The Sheriff’s Department declined to comment beyond its initial statement about Wiley’s death until its investigation is completed.