Sheriff's Office Sued By Former Santa Rita Jail Inmate

ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA — The Alameda County Sheriff's Office and four current and former deputies were sued Monday by a former jail inmate who alleges that the deputies allowed another inmate to spray him with urine and feces multiple times and then broke his arm. The four deputies -- Justin Linn, Erik McDermott, Stephen Sarcos and Sarah Krause -- were all charged in criminal court last year for their alleged involvement in a series of similar assaults on jail inmates.

Their cases are still pending in Alameda County Superior Court; Krause and Sarcos are scheduled for a preliminary hearing next week. The new lawsuit was filed Monday by Fernando Miguel Soria, who is
represented by civil rights attorney John Burris. Soria alleges that he was arrested in November 2016 after he visited John George Psychiatric Pavilion in San Leandro. Employees there tried to sedate him with a shot, but he refused and a struggle ensued, according to the lawsuit.

Sheriff's deputies arrived and arrested him for resisting arrest. He was booked into Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, at first housed in an isolation cell and then taken to another cell, according to the lawsuit.

While he was jailed, the four deputies allegedly allowed another inmate known as "Preacher" to spray him with urine and feces from a plastic shampoo bottle, an assault common in jails and prisons known as "gassing."

The deputies would allegedly open the cell door and allow Preacher to spray Soria. After the attacks, the deputies wouldn't even allow Soria to change his clothes or bathe, and the only way he could clean himself was with the water from his toilet, according to the suit.

At one point, the deputies allegedly kicked Soria's cell door closed while his arm was extended through the handcuffing port, breaking Soria's arm. After that, he didn't receive medical attention for a week, despite repeatedly complaining about being injured, according to the suit.

Another time, McDermott allegedly entered Soria's cell while he was lying down and sprayed mace on his chest and didn't allow him to wash it off. Preacher sprayed the wrong inmate while attempting to target Soria
at least once, according to the suit.

Another victim identified in criminal court filings told investigators that after he was assaulted under similar
circumstances, his attacker apologized and said that he'd intended to spray a different victim with a broken arm.

A news conference with Burris is scheduled for today to release more information about the lawsuit. An Alameda County sheriff's spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.

By Bay City News

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