Three members of the Placer County Sheriff's Office are accused of assaulting inmates and then lying about it.
Correctional Sgt. Megan Yaws, Deputy Robert Madden and Correctional Officer Jeffrey Villanueva were taken into custody on Wednesday.
Deputy Madden is charged with four counts of assault under color of authority, without necessity, and three counts of falsification of an incident report.
C.O. Villanueva is charged with three counts of assault under color of authority, without necessity, and one count of falsification of an incident report.
C.O. Sgt. Yaws is charged with one count of falsifying police reports.
Authorities say the alleged incident was discovered by a supervisor who was reviewing video footage, who then brought it to the attention of management. They say management discovered other alleged incidents.
All three were placed on paid administrative leave.
On Facebook, Sheriff Devon Bell said, ”this is a sad and unfortunate set of circumstances for our organization, law enforcement and the citizens of Placer County. Please hear me when I tell you, under no circumstances will unethical or illegal conduct be tolerated under my watch. The culture of our organization is founded upon public trust. Our core values determine how we conduct ourselves on- and off-duty, regardless of difficulty; it is the Placer County Sheriff's Office contract with the community we serve.”
(Placer County Sheriff's Office contributed to this report.)
