Deputy helped to 'facilitate' jailhouse attack on inmate, sheriff says
A sheriff’s deputy in San Antonio, Texas, is facing multiple charges after allegedly helping to “facilitate” a jailhouse attack that left an inmate hospitalized.
Deputy Jean Camacho-Morales, 33, is charged with aggravated assault, official oppression, and tampering with a government record, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar announced at a press conference late Tuesday.
Camacho-Morales, who had been with sheriff's department based in San Antonio for almost 6 years, is accused of allowing an attack at a county detention center that left an inmate with facial fractures and a damaged spine.
“This is exactly the type of misconduct that this country is reeling against today,” Salazar said. “This is why, people like this is why, millions of dollars of property damage occurred in riots and civil unrest across the country, because of folks like this.”
At least six people are believed to have been involved in the July 13 assault on the 44-year old inmate in a jail unit that Camacho-Morales was guarding, according to Salazar. The attack was premeditated, and Camacho-Morales knew it was going to occur, the sheriff said.
The deputy was not involved in directly assaulting the inmate, but “he also didn’t lift a finger to help” stop it, Salazar said.
“He didn’t lift a finger to do his job. In fact he did several things to facilitate that attack,” the sheriff said.
Camacho-Morales claimed he sounded the alarm as soon as he learned of the assault, but Salazar said that is untrue.
“He allowed this man to lie there in a pool of his own blood for several minutes,” the sheriff said, adding that the deputy named people who tried to help the victim as suspects in the attack.
The Bexar County Sheriff's office worked with the FBI to understand what happened, and learned the truth after a "lengthy" interview with the deputy, Salazar said.
Camacho-Morales was served termination paperwork on Tuesday evening and was subsequently arrested and booked into the county jail, the sheriff said.
It is not clear if Camacho-Morales has representation. A phone call and email Wednesday morning to the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Bexar County did not receive an immediate response.
