AUBURN, Calif. – Graphic video of an inmate being beaten by Placer County sheriff’s deputies was released Thursday as a part of a $1.4 million class action lawsuit settlement between the sheriff’s office and more than 500 former inmates.
The video shows Beau Bangert, an inmate, suffering from an episode and being shoved into a small suicide watch cell. He is repeatedly punched and shocked by deputies.
“They decided that they were going to charge in there, and they charged in. They had a shield, smashed him up against the wall and then pummeled him with fists and knees and elbows, and left him bloody,” Bangert’s attorney, Mark Merin, told KTXL.
Bangert was then put in a restraining chair, his face covered in blood.
“And just left him there for some period of time without getting him medical attention,” Merin said.
Placer County sheriff’s spokesman Lieutenant Andrew Scott said in a video posted Thursday to the office’s Facebook page that the deputies’ actions were troubling.
Bangert’s attorney Mark Merin said what happened to his client was the jumping off point for the class action lawsuit in which around 500 other inmates alleged similar mistreatment and misconduct.
“It was clear then that they had a big problem at the jail,” Merin said.
Merin’s clients all received part of a $1.4 million settlement with Placer County.
To ensure reforms, the court, Merin and the other plaintiff attorneys are now taking part in an audit of the county’s jail system.