By C1 Staff
CHICAGO — A veteran Cook County Jail correctional office was convicted Wednesday for an unprovoked attack on a detainee that was caught on a security camera.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Rico Palomino was found guilty of one count aggravated battery and two counts of official misconduct, all felonies.
In the video footage, Palomino knocks the detainee to the floor with a single punch. The detainee required stitches in his mouth. He was being processed into the jail on a misdemeanor charge alleging he violated an order of protection.
A Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said at the time that Palomino had no significant disciplinary history before the alleged attack.
The detainee was in the process of getting a phone number from property of his that had been inventoried. Palomino told him to return to the bullpen, warning, “if you don’t get back over here, I am going to [expletive] you up,” according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors alleged that the detainee was on his way back to the bullpen when Palomino struck him.