Inmates sue SF, San Mateo sheriffs over alleged deputy beatings

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - Sheriff's deputies in San Francisco and San Mateo counties are facing separate lawsuits for allegedly using excessive force on inmates. 

Two inmates KTVU spoke with, said they made requests of deputies only to be attacked and beaten for no good reason. 

San Francisco Sheriff's Department operates a jail in San Bruno. It's the home to Five Keys Charter School, where inmates get access to education. 

Last April, inmate Deshaun Roberts said Deputy Alex Jayson became enraged after he refused to go to his cell and instead asked for a grievance form. 

"[He winds] up slamming Deshaun Roberts on the ground and hitting him multiple times in the face with his fist, to his facial area, and then kneeing him in the back and then put him in a chokehold," said Stanley Goff, an attorney for Roberts. 

Goff filed a civil rights lawsuit against San Francisco on Friday. 

"There's no justification for any deputy using excessive force against any inmate whether the inmate is not being totally cooperative," Goff said. 

Deputy Jayson is now serving in an administrative role and does not have contact with inmates. 

In a separate case, San Mateo County was sued Thursday by Zephaniah Coon, who said sheriff's Deputy Blake Lycett "viciously beat" him at the county jail in Redwood City after the inmate repeatedly asked him if he could make a phone call. 

"He was attacked from behind, taken down to the ground. Some of the more poignant facts are his head was slammed into a closed elevator door," said Michael Seville, Coon's attorney. 

Investigators said two other inmates were also attacked by the same deputy in August of last year. 

Deputy Lycett is awaiting trial on three misdemeanor counts of assault under color of authority. 

Lycett is on paid administrative leave. He's been with the sheriff's office for six years and previously worked as a Daly City police officer. 

Coon's attorney said inmates are some of the most vulnerable people in the community. 

"They're incarcerated. Much of their rights have been stripped of them, sometimes unjustly, and they are at the hands of the deputies and officers that are charged with providing them safety," Seville said.

The San Francisco sheriff declined to comment on the lawsuit. KTVU has not heard back from officials in San Mateo County about this story.