Orange County Sheriff’s officials are investigating whether Theo Lacy jail deputies shocked a cat to death with a Taser gun.
An allegation was made that a feline was killed at the jail a few weeks ago, prompting a search of the facility on Monday, said sheriff’s spokesman Ryan Burris.
A black cat’s corpse was found in the jail’s yard near the facility’s border with the Orange County Animal Shelter, he said.
“We don’t know if the cat was from there or it was a wild cat,’’ Burris said.
The cat’s body was taken to the Orange County Animal Shelter, where results from a necropsy will be available Wednesday. Preliminary findings show that the cat did not die from trauma, he added.
The sheriff’s department is conducting an internal review, including interviewing personnel and witnesses.
“The command staff is taking this very seriously,’’ Burris said.
Deputies at the jail have been the subject of intense scrutiny since the release last week of a grand jury report on the October 2006 death of inmate John Chamberlain. The report, which criticized deputies’ treatment of jail inmates, details how three jailers didn’t notice the fatal beating of Chamberlain at the hands of other prisoners.
About 7,000 pages of testimony from the grand jury investigation also were made public, including the testimony of Deputy Jason Chapluk, who said he didn’t notice Chamberlain being beaten to death.
He said that another guard, Deputy Kevin Taylor, would often watch “Cops” in the guard station. Taylor has said he did not notice Chamberlain’s fatal beating because he was watching television.
“ ‘Cops’ is always a favorite … Taser – there is one called ‘Tased and Confused of Cops’, it’s pretty good,’’ Chapluk testified.
Both jailers have been placed on administrative leave.
Recent Taser incidents involving inmates have resulted in litigation. Jose Gomez died on April 1; days after deputies stunned him with a Taser in Orange County Jail. Michael Patrick Lass, 28, died last October after a confrontation with deputies who used a Taser gun to subdue him at the county's Intake Release Center.
Two other inmates – Liza Munoz and Matthew Ryan Fleurett – were videotaped being stunned with a Taser by deputies in separate incidents.
An allegation was made that a feline was killed at the jail a few weeks ago, prompting a search of the facility on Monday, said sheriff’s spokesman Ryan Burris.
A black cat’s corpse was found in the jail’s yard near the facility’s border with the Orange County Animal Shelter, he said.
“We don’t know if the cat was from there or it was a wild cat,’’ Burris said.
The cat’s body was taken to the Orange County Animal Shelter, where results from a necropsy will be available Wednesday. Preliminary findings show that the cat did not die from trauma, he added.
The sheriff’s department is conducting an internal review, including interviewing personnel and witnesses.
“The command staff is taking this very seriously,’’ Burris said.
Deputies at the jail have been the subject of intense scrutiny since the release last week of a grand jury report on the October 2006 death of inmate John Chamberlain. The report, which criticized deputies’ treatment of jail inmates, details how three jailers didn’t notice the fatal beating of Chamberlain at the hands of other prisoners.
About 7,000 pages of testimony from the grand jury investigation also were made public, including the testimony of Deputy Jason Chapluk, who said he didn’t notice Chamberlain being beaten to death.
He said that another guard, Deputy Kevin Taylor, would often watch “Cops” in the guard station. Taylor has said he did not notice Chamberlain’s fatal beating because he was watching television.
“ ‘Cops’ is always a favorite … Taser – there is one called ‘Tased and Confused of Cops’, it’s pretty good,’’ Chapluk testified.
Both jailers have been placed on administrative leave.
Recent Taser incidents involving inmates have resulted in litigation. Jose Gomez died on April 1; days after deputies stunned him with a Taser in Orange County Jail. Michael Patrick Lass, 28, died last October after a confrontation with deputies who used a Taser gun to subdue him at the county's Intake Release Center.
Two other inmates – Liza Munoz and Matthew Ryan Fleurett – were videotaped being stunned with a Taser by deputies in separate incidents.
