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Three Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies were arrested Thursday morning in connection with the death last week of an inmate ‘Michael James Tyree’, authorities said.
Santa Clara County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. James Jensen said the deputies — Rafael Rodriguez, 27, Jereh Lubrin, 28, and Matthew Farris, 27 — remain in custody without bail.
Medical Examiner Dr. Joseph O’Hara said that Michael James Pipkin Tyree, 31, died of multiple blunt force injuries, “visceral lacerations” and internal bleeding.
Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith, her voice breaking and eyes tearing up, apologized Thursday to Tyree’s family and said “the disappointment and disgust I feel cannot be overstated.” She was flanked by 18 uniformed officers, and at least another dozen members of her agency in plain clothes attended a news conference.
She said the three officers, who she called “accused murderers,” were treated as anyone else as they were handcuffed, booked and locked in protective custody in the same jail where Tyree was killed. They’ve since been transferred to an unnamed facility for their own protection, she said.
Exactly what happened leading up to Tyree’s death remains murky.
Last Thursday, Tyree and other inmates in his jail wing were securely locked in their cells when the beating apparently took place. Smith refused to provide details but said the three officers were conducting a routine clothing search and left the wing.
She said about an hour later one officer re-entered the cell and issued a “man down” call. Tyree, naked and covered in feces and vomit, was declared dead by responding paramedics.
Smith said she apologized directly to two of Tyree’s sisters earlier Thursday, and repeated her “profound sorrow” over his death.
Agencies/Canadajournal
