The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Friday released video of a male inmate punching a female custody assistant five times.
The incident occurred on Wednesday at the Inmate Reception Center in Chinatown after Arnulfo Meza’s left hand was unlocked from his waist chain when he asked to use the restroom, according to a department statement.
The video shows the 29-year-old Meza punching the 54-year-old woman three times in the face after she handed him toilet paper and twice more after she fell to the ground.
Meza sat down on a gurney as sheriff’s department personnel arrived to assist the woman. He offered no resistance as he was secured to a gurney.
The woman suffered trauma to her face and head and was treated at a hospital, the statement said. Her name was not released.
Meza was taken to a high-security area of the Inmate Reception Center, the statement said.
An investigation into the assault is ongoing.
