FBI to Probe Jail Beating Claim
Federal authorities announced Friday that they will begin a criminal probe into an alleged jailhouse beating by Orange County sheriff’s deputies in 1999, an incident prosecutors said was marred by a “fatally flawed” sheriff’s investigation.
The new inquiry is the third allegation of brutality at the Orange County Jail to come under federal scrutiny since late February, and comes amid a flurry of inmates’ claims of mistreatment by guards.
Michael Gennaco, who heads the civil rights section of the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, on Friday said he had asked the FBI to determine if deputies violated the civil rights of inmate Leonel Vega.
“We have received information about [the case] from sources, including the media, and we are going to look into it,” Gennaco said.
Sheriff’s officials said they welcomed the FBI investigation, and promised their full cooperation.
In 1999, Vega, 21, accused four deputies of punching and kicking him in the groin while he was at Men’s Central Jail in Santa Ana in December 1999. Vega, who was later convicted of drug charges, had to be rushed to the hospital.
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