A San Diego sheriff’s deputy was badly beaten by two inmates inside the Vista Detention Facility, authorities reported Sunday.
The attack happened about 2 p.m. Saturday at the jail at 325 S. Melrose Dr., according to San Diego sheriff’s Lt. Ricardo Lopez.
According to Lopez, Deputy Michael Cascioppo was escorting a nurse who was distributing medication inside one of the housing modules. Because of the pandemic, inmates remain locked inside their cells while medication is distributed.
While Cascioppo was escorting the nurse, an inmate asked the deputy if he could pass a food tray to the inmates in the next cell, Lopez said. When Cascioppo opened the cell, the two inmates inside rushed out and started beating him.
Cascioppo was punched and kicked multiple times, then the inmates pulled him into their cell and beat him further, Lopez said.
Responding deputies finally subdued the inmates and placed them under arrest, Lopez said. Cascioppo was able to walk out on his own power, and was then transported to a hospital for treatment. He was released later that evening.
Detectives with the sheriff’s Detentions Investigation unit were handling the investigation, Lopez said. The names of the two inmates were not immediately released, and the motive for the attack was unknown.