Lawsuits Mount Against Riverside County Sheriff's Department

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Against the backdrop of a civil rights investigation by state officials into Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and his department, lawsuits are mounting against the county's largest law enforcement agency.

More than a half-dozen suits have been filed in U.S. District Court in Riverside this year on behalf of inmates who died in Riverside County's jail system, including three filed since Oct. 11, The Press-Enterprise reported.

The three recent suits come from the family members of deceased inmates Mark Spratt, Ulysses Munoz Ayala and Justin Kail. All three inmates were housed at the Southwest Detention Center in French Valley, the newspaper reported.

Spratt, 24, of Fontana died in January after his cellmate allegedly beat him and threw him over a second-story railing.

Ulysses Munoz Ayala, 39, of Corona was allegedly killed by an inmate in September 2022 during an altercation.

Justin Kail, 31, of Winchester died of a fentanyl overdose at the jail on May 17, 2022.

Riverside County has caught the attention of California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Amid "concerning levels of in-custody deaths and allegations of misconduct" by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Bonta announced in February that his office opened a civil rights investigation into the law enforcement agency.

The state probe seeks to determine whether the sheriff's department "has engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing amid deeply concerning allegations relating to conditions of confinement in its jail facilities, excessive force, and other misconduct," according to Bonta's announcement.

In response to the attorney general's allegations, Bianco released a video statement. He called the patterns-and-practices probe a "political stunt" out of Sacramento.

"This [investigation] will prove to be a complete waste of time and resources," he said.

Read the full PE story about the mounting federal lawsuits.