2 Deputies Accused in Riverside Jail Assault

Two Riverside County sheriff’s deputies assigned to the Robert Presley Detention Center face felony assault counts in connection with the alleged beating of an inmate who pleaded for toilet paper, the district attorney confirmed Tuesday.

Michael Vernal, 33, and Antonio Gomez, 24, have been placed on administrative leave without pay pending an internal review of the March 2 incident, said Sheriff Bob Doyle.

“We’re the ones who filed the [report],” Doyle said. “We’ve shown that if our deputies’ conduct is not becoming of our department, we will pursue the situation as strongly as we can.”

Vernal faces an additional count of destroying evidence that could be used in an official investigation.

Prosecutors filed the criminal case against Vernal and Gomez on June 23. The deputies are scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 4 in Riverside County Superior Court.

Sheriff’s Det. Roman Plummer, who investigated the incident, reported in court documents that the inmate alleged he was beaten by the two deputies in a private booth used by attorneys to meet with clients inside the Riverside jail.

The inmate, identified in court documents as Daniel Leonard, had complained of being deprived of toilet paper for 21 hours.

The inmate, jailed in a private cell, said he was forced to press an intercom button and yell to Vernal, “Look! I need some toilet paper now!” and threatened to relieve himself in a cup and kick the waste at Vernal.

After a further verbal exchange between Vernal and Leonard, the sheriff’s investigator reported, Leonard was moved into the private attorney’s booth, where, he alleges, Vernal and Gomez twisted his wrists and slammed his forehead into a large glass window and a metal window frame three times, causing “two substantial, vertically shaped lacerations above his eyebrows.”

The inmate was bleeding profusely and was taken to Riverside County Regional Medical Center for treatment, according to documents.