Former California sheriff's deputy charged with throwing scalding water on mentally ill inmate
A former Orange County sheriff's deputy is accused of throwing scalding water on a mentally ill inmate who didn't receive medical treatment for his burns for more than six hours, the county district attorney's office announced Monday.
Guadalupe Ortiz, 47, was charged with felony counts of assault or battery by a public officer and battery with serious bodily injury and could face up to four years in prison if convicted, the DA's office said in a statement.
Ortiz allegedly filled a cup from a hot water dispenser on April 1 and poured it on the hands of an inmate who had refused to take his hands out of a hatch door in his cell at the sheriff's Intake Release Center in Santa Ana, prosecutors said. The DA's statement described the inmate as mentally ill.
The man suffered first- and second-degree burns but wasn't treated for about 6 1/2 hours until another deputy making a standard security check noticed that his arm was "red and peeling," authorities said.
"The law imputes a special duty of care on custodial personnel and in this case the sheriff's deputy completely breached that duty and crossed the line into criminal conduct," District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.
Ortiz was fired Friday after a two-decade career with the Sheriff's Department, the DA's office said. It wasn't immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Ortiz spent 19 years working as sheriff's deputy and previously served as a sheriff's special officer for three years.
"As District Attorney it is my responsibility to hold Sheriff's deputies and other jail staff accountable when they fail to properly protect those in their care," Spitzer said. "And now a deputy is throwing away a 22-year-career for inflicting unnecessary harm on a mentally ill inmate out of frustration."
Ortiz is scheduled to be arraigned on January 11.
