Deputy loses suspension appeal: Juan Lopez sought to have Sheriff’s Office ruling overturned

The hearing, scheduled for four hours, lasted nine hours as Lopez’s attorney David Washington took several hours to ask questions to a handful of witnesses.

Lopez was suspended for dishonesty, said Undersheriff Carlos Bolanos, who originally suspended the deputy for 200 hours.

Bolanos testified under oath that an internal affairs investigation found at least four different witnesses who said Lopez gave an inmate a “bro-hug” and later was seen walking with his arms around the inmate on a night he was being transferred out of a jail pod for safety reasons.

The inmate was allegedly facing threats from other inmates within the pod for being too close to Lopez, according to county counsel.

Lopez also gave the inmate, and others, personal food from home which is a violation of department policy.

Lopez was also suspended for 120 hours in 2012 for giving an inmate food. In 2007, he was also allegedly discovered naked in a county courtroom after hours with a woman, Chief Deputy County Counsel David Silberman told the commission Tuesday.

Lopez has repeatedly denied hugging the inmate and said any actions he took that night to comfort or guide the inmate was taken out of context.

He testified Tuesday that he shook the inmate’s hand once, put his hand on his chest to slow him down and then on his neck and back to guide him.

A hug, however, is considered to be undue affection and can lead to safety issues in the jail.

Lopez did admit to sharing his food with inmates, however, even after being suspended in 2012.

“I’m Catholic. I think it’s a sin to throw away food,” Lopez testified Tuesday.

Lopez is being prosecuted by the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office on accusations of conspiring to smuggle cellphones and drugs into county jail. He is also being charged for embezzlement, perjury and election fraud as he ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign for county sheriff in 2014 against Sheriff Greg Munks.

The accusations came to light after the initial internal affairs investigation into the undue affection discovered possible crimes took place.

In November 2014, Lopez and correctional officers George Ismael and Michael Del Carlo were arrested after a 10-month investigation that prosecutors say revealed the men helped deliver cellphones, Oxycodone, Alprazolam and Ibuprofen to inmate Dionicio Lopez, no relation, while he was in custody between April and December 2013.

Those charges are still pending.

bill@smdailyjournal.com

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