Ex-SLO County sheriff’s deputy accused of assaulting topless inmate faces federal charges
A former San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office deputy accused of abusing a jail inmate and falsifying his report about the incident was indicted in in federal court Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
Grover Beach resident Joshua Fischer, 40, is accused of using unreasonable force against a San Luis Obispo County Jail inmate who had removed her shirt and exited her cell while he was a sworn senior correctional deputy in November 2018.
When the inmate returned to her cell, Fisher “allegedly grabbed the victim from behind by her hair while she was still topless and dragged her on the ground into another cell,” the release said.
Fischer then falsified a Sheriff’s Office incident report, the indictment alleges, making false statements that the victim threw her shirt on the ground after removing it outside her cell, that she yelled and flailed her arms while re-entering her cell, and that Fischer “was in fear for the safety of the other female arrestee in the cell” because the victim was “still without her shirt, yelling and flailing her arms.”
None of that is true, according to the indictment, which started that the victim’s arms were by her side then near her bare chest when Fischer assaulted her.
Fischer is charged with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of falsification of records.
If convicted, the former correctional officer faces up to 30 years in federal prison — a 10-year statutory maximum sentence for deprivation of rights and a 20-year maximum sentence for falsifying records.
The Sheriff’s Office told The Tribune in an emailed statement that it immediately began an administrative investigation into the incident for employee misconduct in November 2018 and, as a result, Fischer was terminated from his employment in March 2019.
The agency said it cannot comment further because of the pending criminal investigation.
This story was originally published December 14, 2022 at 11:28 AM.
