San Diego County sheriff's deputy Jeremiah Flores fractured a handcuffed detainee's spine, then falsified his report

On August 29, 2024, inside a holding cell at the San Diego Central Courthouse jail, San Diego County Sheriff's Office Deputy Jeremiah Manuyag Flores shoved a handcuffed, 57-year-old pretrial detainee from behind. The man, identified in court records as "J.P.," was thrown across the cell and struck the wall headfirst, suffering a fractured spine and a head injury that required surgery and a lengthy hospitalization.

Flores did not render aid or report the use of force to a supervisor. The detainee remained on the cell floor beside a pool of his own blood for more than two hours before another deputy discovered him. In his incident report, Flores wrote that no force had been used, and he later told another deputy that nothing had happened; prosecutors said security footage showed Flores walking away from the cell after the shove.

Updates

2026-07-07 — Flores convicted and sentenced to 57 months in federal prison [1, 2]

A federal jury convicted Flores in December 2025 of deprivation of rights under color of law and falsification of records in a federal investigation. On July 7, 2026, U.S. District Judge Linda Lopez sentenced him to 57 months in federal prison. Flores was fired from the San Diego County Sheriff's Office following his conviction and is barred from serving as a law enforcement officer.