Alameda Co. deputy arrested for allegedly allowing inmates to fight

ALAMEDA, Calif. (KGO) -- Alameda County Sheriff's Deputy Joseph Bailey was arrested Wednesday, after 3-month long investigation. He is accused of knowingly and willingly facilitating an attack on an inmate at the Santa Rita Jail.

This stems back to an incident on Oct. 24. Bailey and an inmate allegedly had some sort of argument. Only a few hours later, that inmate was attacked by a group of about 6 other inmates.

"We believe there was some type of interaction that took place between him and the inmate that was attacked, said Sgt. Ray Kelly. "And that maybe out of retaliation or retribution he sanctioned this assault to occur."

This happened in the dormitory area of the jail's minimum security facility in Dublin.

Sgt. Kelly says the investigation found Bailey not only allowed the assault, but used his power and knowledge to put that inmate in a dangerous situation with other individuals. "It appears the deputy knew or possibly knew that when he put this particular inmate in this particular location that the likelihood that they would assault him was high," he said.

The attack was so severe, the inmate had to be hospitalized. Other employees who witnessed or caught wind of the fight told their supervisor. Other inmates were interviewed during the investigation.

Bailey is out on bail. The 28-year-old lives in Tracy and is on paid administrative leave. In a statement Chief Ahern said, "The moment I heard of these allegations, I directed my staff to do a complete and thorough investigation. I am confident this single incident is isolated to this individual."