Former Inmates Claim Violence

A former Men’s Central Jail inmate who said he was beaten by sheriff’s deputies after being stranded in a hallway on his way to the shower when a cellblock was shut down because of a disturbance has filed a claim with the county Board of Supervisors alleging excessive force, his attorney said Wednesday.

Phillip McLachlan said at least seven deputies attacked him on July 2 and struck him in the head about 14 times. McLachlan, 36, said he was in the hallway wearing only underwear and shower slippers when a riot broke out, closing his cellblock. Deputies told him to stand facing a wall with his hands up and feet spread, he said.

McLachlan’s complaint states he complied but deputies beat him with their fists. He was then ordered to get down on the ground. “As I lay on the ground, one of the deputies came and hit me in the head with a flashlight,” McLachlan, who had been serving a nine-month sentence for parole violations, said at a news conference Wednesday. The blow left him unconscious, according to the complaint, and opened a gash above his left eye.

Sheriff’s officials said Wednesday that they are looking into McLachlan’s claim and could not comment on the specific charges.

County records show that McLachlan filed a $1-million claim with the Board of Supervisors on July 24. Such claims are made prior to the filing of lawsuits.

Also on hand at the news conference was Marvin Ceasar, a former County Jail inmate who filed a $5-million complaint in January alleging that several deputies kicked him and hit him in the head in October 2001 when he fell off a jail bus.

Sitting with a black patch over his right eye, Ceasar, 37, told reporters that he is blind and had trouble getting on and off the bus. As the bus returned to Men’s Central Jail from court, he said, he was handcuffed and chained to other inmates. The inmate in front of him fell, pulling Ceasar down.

Ceasar’s complaint states he fell off the bus onto the parking lot amid deputies shouting, “You’re not blind.” He was kicked twice in the back and three times in the leg, according to the claim.

Deputies ordered him to get up, and when he didn’t, he was kicked in the face, Ceasar said.

Sheriff’s officials said they could not comment on Ceasar’s charges, which remain unresolved.

Margaret Wilson, the attorney for the two men and founder of the Civil Justice Foundation, said she decided to publicize her clients’ stories in light of the recent beating incident of a 16-year-old in Inglewood that has resulted in criminal indictments against two Inglewood police officers.