A former jailbird of Santa Clara County Main Jail has filed a case against the county and two correctional officers.
According to Mercury News, Ruben Garcia, a 50-year-old former inmate filed his complaints in U.S District Court in San Jose five months after the incident of the allege beatings that broke his jaw. The beatings happened on the night of July 24, 2015.
The source said the complaint strives to establish an unspecified amount of reparation for physical injuries, mental distress and medical expenses in a jury trial. It also pursues punitive penalties against the guards for their "malicious, wanton and oppressive conduct," and alleges civil rights violations.
Garcia came forward in the aftermath of the demise of Michael Tyree, a mentally ill man who was being held at the facility August 26, 2015 when he was apparently set upon by three guards, Mercury News added.
In an interview with ABC7 News, Garcia said that in July correctional deputies Le and Dario beat him inside Santa Clara County Jail that resulted to head injury. The former inmate asked for medical assistance but was refused.
"I told him please I need medical attention, my eye is split open. Please you have to help me and he just looked at me and kept walking," he told the outlet.
Garcia added his broken jaw was recorded next day as an outcome of inmate brawl. The claimed beatings happened in dorm 6b in the main jail, the same dorm where Tyree was beaten to death, the source wrote.
Following the investigation on the death of Tyree and beatings of Garcia, CBC Local noted in their news site, Deputies Matthew Farris, Jereh Lubrin and Rafael Rodriguez were indicted with murder of Tyree. Authorities said Tyree was beaten to death and died of multiple blunt force injuries and internal bleeding in his spleen.
Santa Clara County Main Jail officials received the lawsuit last January 4, 2016 but did not make their statement on it yet.
