Two Dallas County Sheriff's Department detention officers were arrested Friday in connection with separate assaults on inmates in the last few months.
Detention service officers Levar Weston and Hector Navarette were both booked into the Dallas County Jail on charges of assault causing bodily injury and official oppression following investigations into the incidents, the department said.
Both are on leave and are to report to internal affairs Monday morning, officials said.
An inmate alleged that Weston, 31, had spit on him and hit him in the face with an open hand on June 13 after a verbal altercation while he was strapped into a restraint chair, the sheriff's department said.
The department said the inmate had been strapped into the chair in the sixth floor holdover area after he had purposely caused the flooding of his housing location.
Weston was hired April 8, 2019, and was assigned to the West Tower Facility at the Dallas County Jail.
"Any allegations of improper conduct or criminal violations are taken seriously and thoroughly investigated," Sheriff Marian Brown said in a written statement. "The actions that the officer displayed clearly exceeded the boundaries of the law, policy and professionalism. The Sheriff's Office strives to maintain the highest degree of integrity, professionalism and integrity along with the public's trust."
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Navarette, 34, was involved in two separate incidents, according to the sheriff's department.
On March 27, the sheriff's department received a complaint that alleged Navarette had hit an inmate in the head multiple times with a shield, injuring him.
In the second incident on March 30, Navarette was accused of striking an inmate with his knee twice while the inmate was in the process of being restrained, the sheriff's department said.
Navarette has been with the department since September 2015 and was assigned to the North Tower Facility.
