Deputy scalded inmate with boiling water ‘out of frustration,’ California officials say

When a prisoner at a California jail refused to remove his hands from a door so it could be closed, a deputy poured scalding water on them, prosecutors said.

The man, who suffered first- and second-degree burns to his hands, was left without medical care for six hours until another deputy checked on him, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Guadalupe Ortiz, 47, faces felony charges of battery by a public officer and battery with serious bodily injury, the release said. He was fired Friday, Dec. 10, by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

The April incident at an intake release center in Santa Ana involved an inmate with a mental illness, prosecutors said.

When the prisoner refused to cooperate with another deputy, Ortiz offered to help, then filled a cup with scalding water and poured it over the man’s hands, the release said. The man pulled his hands back, allowing the door to be closed.

Ortiz had been a deputy for 19 years after three years as a special officer.

The former deputy breached his duty of care and “crossed the line into criminal conduct” with his actions, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the release.

“And now a deputy is throwing away a 22-year-career for inflicting unnecessary harm on a mentally ill inmate out of frustration,” Spitzer said.

Ortiz faces up to four years in prison if convicted. He will be arraigned in January.

This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 10:40 AM with the headline "Deputy scalded inmate with boiling water ‘out of frustration,’ California officials say."