A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy was charged with assaulting a 19-year-old inmate in the back seat of a patrol car, the District Attorney’s Office announced recently.
Matthew John Funicello, 31 (dob 12/19/1981), is accused of striking an inmate several times with his fist on July 22, 2011. The inmate was being transported from the sheriff’s Palmdale Station to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles.
The complaint, BA409956, was filed Thursday by Deputy District Attorney Geoffrey Rendon of the Justice System Integrity Division. It charges Funicello with one count of violating Penal Code section 149, assault under color of authority.
Funicello was booked at the Crescenta Valley Station late Thursday and was released on $35,000 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned May 20 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Department 30.
If convicted, Funicello faces up to three years in county jail.
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