Four deputies in a San Francisco county jail allegedly forced inmates to fight gladiator-style, and threatened inmates who tried to refuse. The deputies also placed bets and would punish fighters for losing.
News of the illegal fighting ring was brought to the attention of San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, when he was emailed by inmate Ricardo Palikiko Garcia’s father. Garcia contends that he was forced to participate in two fights with another inmate, Stanley Harris, who weighed 300 pounds — two times his size. The inmates were given free reign to fight, as long as they didn’t punch one another in the face, which could tip off medical staff. Garcia also alleges that the two were told to lie about their injuries by saying they fell out of their bunks.
Garcia claims the ringleader of the deputies, Scott Neu, threatened to cuff, Mace, and beat him if he didn’t comply. Harris told Adachi that when he lost to Garcia in the first fight, Neu threatened to rape him if he did not train for a second showdown. Additionally, witnesses say that Neu demanded that bystanders gamble against him with their food, personal belongs, and laundry privileges.
Neu, as well as Eugene Jones, Clifford Chiba and Evan Staehely, are currently on paid administrative leave. In a statement about prisoners’ accusations, deputy union attorney Harry Stern responded, “A deputy may have encouraged one inmate to work out. The deputy may have also allowed two inmates to wrestle in order to settle a dispute about who was stronger. The ‘wrestling’ was essentially little more than horseplay. There was no betting. The inmates were never forced to work out. They were never forced to fight.”
Sadly, this alleged “sadistic” treatment of inmates for the amusement of prison staff is not unique to County Jail No. 4. Similar allegations were waged in St. Louis two years ago. Just last week, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of hundreds of inmates from four Illinois prisons, who said they were forced to march in long lines, naked, with their genitalia touching the person in front of them. Correctional staff allegedly laughed and taunted the inmates as they walked.