Inquiry Targets Baca’s Opponent

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant who is challenging Sheriff Lee Baca in next year’s election has come under scrutiny by the department after allegedly disclosing deputy misconduct at a news conference, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Sgt. Patrick Gomez called the inquiry a clear attempt at intimidation.

The Sheriff’s Department launched the inquiry after Gomez joined a Dec. 4 news conference held by an attorney who filed a $50-million claim against the county. The lawsuit alleged that a jail inmate lost most of his vision because jailers failed to give him his prescribed glaucoma medications.

Gomez, who is assigned to Twin Towers jail, was invited to the news conference by the attorney, Margaret Wilson. Wilson and Gomez said the sergeant attended on his own time and made general comments about the conditions there and Baca’s handling of inmate health care. Gomez said he did not know the specifics of the case outlined in the lawsuit.

But Sheriff’s Capt. Ray Leyva said Gomez may have made statements indicating that he knew at the time that the inmate, James Stern, was in distress or that Sheriff’s Department employees had violated policy. If so, Gomez was required by department regulations to contact superiors about the problem. But Gomez contended that it was political payback.

“It’s pretty obvious,” he said. “I’m off duty, a candidate for sheriff, yet they’re doing an investigation as if I was on duty as a sergeant.”

It was unclear Wednesday who ordered the inquiry. Gomez’s superior, Lt. Ed Allen, said he was directed to begin it by Capt. Rufus Tamayo, his superior at the department’s training division. Tamayo was not available for comment Wednesday afternoon, and Leyva said the captain may have been acting on his own.

Acknowledging that the task was politically volatile, Allen said he was just following orders. “I don’t get into the political side of this,” he said. “I just do my assignment.”

Leyva, the sheriff’s spokesman, said the inquiry was justified. “Is he not responsible for the care and custody of those people?” Leyva asked rhetorically.

He denied that the inquiry was politically motivated, saying that to target Gomez would simply enhance the credibility of a candidate who is mounting a long-shot challenge to the well-financed incumbent, Baca.

Stern’s complaints are just the latest from the county jails, where sheriff’s officials acknowledged that some inmates go without needed health care because the medical staff is overwhelmed.

County supervisors and Gomez have criticized Baca for not spending enough on jail medical care while purchasing a new plane for his department and running a multimillion-dollar deficit. The Sheriff’s Department has said it needs more money from the county.