Theft Suspect Claims Jailer Slammed His Head on Bars : Courts: Lawsuit alleges assault was stopped only by another guard and that Sheriff’s Department refuses to properly treat injury.

An 18-year-old Buena Park man has sued the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, alleging a jailer repeatedly slammed his head against the bars of a holding cell and stopped only when he was pulled away by another guard.

Michael Gomez, in custody on auto theft charges, also alleges in a federal lawsuit filed Monday in Santa Ana that Sheriff’s Department officials are denying him proper medical care for his head wound, which required several stitches.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Ron Wilkerson said Deputy Michael Green, accused of the assault in the suit, was placed on paid administrative leave last Friday pending an internal investigation by the department. Wilkerson said the investigation, a standard response to such allegations, prevents him from commenting further on the case.

Green, 37, has worked nine years for the Sheriff’s Department.

Gomez alleges Green assaulted him Oct. 5 as he awaited return to Orange County Jail from Municipal Court in Fullerton, where he had appeared earlier for an arraignment, according to attorneys James F. Kajtoch and Charles J. Schurter.

The deputy, arriving to drive the inmates back to jail, allegedly told them to shut up and used derogatory language before grabbing Gomez by the sweater and slamming his head three times into holding cell bars, causing his head to “split open and start to bleed,” Gomez alleged in the suit.

Another guard restrained the deputy before the assault continued, according to the suit, which seeks unspecified damages for alleged cruel and unusual punishment.

Kajtoch and Schurter said they have gathered declarations from other inmates in the holding cell who support Gomez’s story, including allegations that the deputy threatened retaliation if they reported the incident.

Gomez continues to have severe headaches, dizziness and blurred vision from his head injury, but has not received extensive treatment or tests other than non-prescription pain pills, he alleged in the suit.