SAN ANTONIO — A Bexar County inmate is receiving treatment, while a deputy and at least one inmate have been charged following an assault at the county jail on Tuesday, according to officials with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office.
BCSO deputies made an arrest on fellow deputy Jean Carlos Camacho Morales, 33.
During an overnight press conference, BCSO Sheriff Javier Salazar announced that Camacho, a 6-year-veteran at the agency, faces three charges: aggravated assault, official oppression, and tampering with a governmental record.
On July 13, around 4 p.m. BCSO administration became aware of an assault that occurred in a living unit that was being guarded by Camacho.
Sheriff Salazar noted that very early on, Camacho told a story of an assault that occurred in a shower area of the jail. He said that he immediately alerted the rest of his team and called a code.
"Soon thereafter though, it became pretty obvious that he was not being truthful," Sheriff Salazar said.
Supervisors found surveillance footage that did not support the claims that were initially made by Camacho.
During the follow-up investigation into the assault, Sheriff Salazar said that they were able to get a "true picture of what Camacho had actually done."
According to Sheriff Salazar, Camacho knew that an assault was going to occur on the unnamed 44-year-old inmate.
"He allowed the assault to occur in the shower area of the jail and after the assault occurred let quite a bit of time lapse before actually sounding the alarm and calling for other deputies to come to the scene."
It was also discovered that this inmate was beaten several times by several different inmates, while "[Camacho] stood by and did nothing." It is believed at this time that at least 6 other inmates were involved in the attack.
After securing an arrest warrant, Sheriff Salazar confirmed that Camacho was placed under arrest and taken into custody Tuesday night.
Sheriff Salazar confirmed during the press conference that Camacho did not physically take part in the assault, but allowed it to happen.
"He allowed this man to lay there in a pool of his own blood for several minutes, probably upwards of a half-hour."
During the time the victim was lying in the shower area, several other inmates that were involved in the attack cleaned up and destroyed some evidence of the attack. However, the forensics team was able to go in and uncover evidence that the attack did occur.
At this time it is unclear whether or not the attack is gang-related, although Sheriff Salazar did point out that there are some common indicators that might indicate that it is.
So far, one inmate, Justin Rodriguez, has been charged in the assault, but more charges are expected to follow.
Sheriff Salazar said that in the early stages of the investigation into the attack, Camacho pointed out several suspects in the attack. As it later turned out, the "suspects" were actually trying to help the victim.
Salazar said that Camacho most likely pointed the witnesses out as suspects, to silence them, and to mislead investigators. "So that just goes to show the egregious nature of what that person did."
Sheriff Salazar was firm in stating that the agency will not tolerate this behavior and referred to the incident as "the kind of misconduct that this country is really against today."
"People like this [pointing to an image of Camacho] is why millions of dollars in property damages occurred and riots and civil unrest across the country, because of folks like this."
The sheriff continued saying that it's the agency's mission to hold people like Camacho accountable. Camacho was served with termination paperwork overnight.
The unnamed inmate/victim of the assault reportedly had facial fractures, damaged vertebrae, and was intubated upon arrival (the breathing tube has since been removed).
He is currently at a local hospital and is "doing better but he's got a long road ahead of him."
Anyone with outside information about the incident is asked to contact investigators at bcsotips@bexar.org or call 210-335-6070.
The investigation continues.
