Inmate says deputies pepper-sprayed him

The investigation started after Alejandro Franco, 23, alleged that jailers, upset because he swore at one of them, took him to an isolated place and assaulted him in November.

In an interview with The Times this weekend, Franco said two deputies pinned him to the ground at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles and a third pepper-sprayed his anus and scrotum.

Oleoresin capsicum spray, commonly known as "pepper spray," is used by many law enforcement agencies -- including the Sheriff's Department -- to control dangerous and violent suspects. It causes inflammation, pain and discomfort so severe that most subjects lose the ability to resist, a report by the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Franco said he was handcuffed at the time and did not resist.

"If they had just punched me and yanked my shirt, this wouldn't have been an issue," Franco said by telephone from the jail. "They took it an extra step. It was humiliating, degrading, embarrassing. . . . They should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

A sheriff's official said the department's Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau has taken Franco's allegations "very seriously" and is reviewing them. The three jailers have been placed on paid leave during the investigation, but department officials would not identify them or make them available to comment.

"There is a criminal investigation. It's moving along," said Michael Gennaco, chief attorney for the Office of Independent Review, which monitors Sheriff's Department internal affairs investigations under a contract with the county. "If the allegations are true, the consequences are serious. There is no legitimate reason for doing what is alleged here."

Franco said he swore at a deputy who had refused to give him a clean shirt. At the time, Franco was in jail for allegedly violating terms of his probation for a domestic violence conviction.

About 45 minutes after the argument, three deputies removed him from his cell, handcuffed him and took him to a recreation area away from other inmates, Franco said.

One deputy jabbed him in the face, the inmate alleged. Another yanked his T-shirt and asked, "How's this shirt?" Franco said.