An inmate charged with felony assault for allegedly punching a female custody assistant five times — an attack captured on video surveillance — is scheduled to make his first court appearance Monday.
Arnulfo Meza, 29, was charged Friday with felony assault by means likely to cause great bodily injury, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The attack occurred last Wednesday at the Inmate Reception Center in Chinatown after Meza’s left hand was unlocked from his waist chain when he asked to use the restroom, according to a Sheriff’s Department statement.
The video shows a man punching the 54-year-old custody assistant three times in the face after she handed him toilet paper and twice more after she fell to the ground.
The inmate 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, whose name was withheld, suffered trauma to her face and head and was treated at a hospital, according to the sheriff’s statement.
Meza, who was subsequently taken to a high-security area of the Inmate Reception Center, is now being held in lieu of $105,000 bail in Twin Towers Correction Facility, according to jail records.
