SECOND LAWSUIT ALLEGES DRUG USE IN JAILS

Man in custody died of overdose at Vista facility in July 2022

For the second time this week, the Sheriff’s Department is being accused in a federal lawsuit of participating in or allowing illegal drug sales in San Diego County jails, leading to the death of a man in custody.

Rob Bousman, whose son, James, died in the Vista Detention Facility in July 2022, claims in a U.S. District Court lawsuit filed Thursday that unnamed sheriff ’s deputies either sold his son the drugs that killed him or did nothing to stop other people from selling drugs in jail.

The complaint also accuses senior Sheriff’s Department officials and elected policymakers of knowing about the illegal trafficking and doing nothing to stop it.

San Diego County has a “longstanding custom and practice of condoning and/or otherwise failing to prevent its deputy sheriffs/custodial officers/special officers/other jail personnel from bringing dangerous narcotic drugs like fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine into the San Diego County jails,” the lawsuit states.

The Bousman complaint closely mirrors a lawsuit filed this week by relatives of Leonel Villasenor, an incarcerated man who died in the downtown Central Jail last year.

The Sheriff ’s Department strongly rejected the allegations in both lawsuits.

Spokesperson Lt. David LaDieu said Sheriff Kelly Martinez welcomes any information and facts that would prove any claims of criminal conduct by her staff.

“No evidence has been brought forward to show that any sheriff staff have been involved in providing narcotics to individuals in our custody,” he wrote. “We actively investigate every case of drugs being brought into the jail.”

The plaintiffs in the two cases are represented by different lawyers.

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The woman went to police a day after the party. After a monthslong police investigation, prosecutors declined to file criminal charges. The woman’s civil suit was filed months before prosecutors announced that decision. She initially named three people in her civil suit, including Araiza, but has since added two more defendants. All are former Aztecs players.

The defendants have said any encounters with the woman were consensual, and Araiza maintains he had left the party nearly a half-hour before the alleged incident in the bedroom.

Several short video clips were recorded during the bedroom incident, but the framing is tight, and there is no image showing everyone in the room, according to attorneys who have seen the clips.

“Is there evidence at this point — I include any evidence, including your client — that Mr. Araiza was in that room?” Braner asked Mitchell, who is representing the woman.

“There’s not evidence that he was in that room at the time,” Mitchell responded.

Braner is expected to issue his ruling next week.