http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0713indict0713.html

Officers indicted in jail assaults

Lindsey Collom

The Arizona Republic

Jul. 13, 2006 12:00 AM

Three Phoenix police officers accused of roughhousing prisoners at Maricopa County's Fourth Avenue Jail have been indicted on charges of aggravated assault.

Officers Michael Colebeck, Hain Price and Richard Ruff have been placed on routine paid administrative leave while the Phoenix Police Department completes an internal investigation.

The officers were served with indictments Tuesday. They are scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Maricopa County Superior Court.

Colebeck and Price were suspected of using excessive force on a prisoner Nov. 11 inside the intake area at the Fourth Avenue Jail. The indictment said the pair knowingly touched Thomas Schuster "with the intent to injure, insult or provoke him while he was bound or otherwise physically restrained."

The circumstances of the arrest were not available, and there was no corresponding case information on the county's Superior Court Web site.

Ruff's indictment charged that he used excessive force on German Benitez, 35, May 1 while in the intake area of the Fourth Avenue Jail. Benitez pleaded guilty last month to one count of criminal trespassing, according to the court records.

It was not clear who complained about the officers, whether prisoners or witnesses, but Phoenix police immediately responded with both criminal and internal investigations, Officer Stacie Derge said. She said the department could not comment or provide further information until the investigations are final.

Jake Jacobsen, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, said the three officers have been in contact with the union.

The association has stood behind them and stood by all the things they're entitled to including legal representation, Jacobsen said. "Any statements would have to come through them or their attorneys, not through the union."

Colebeck and Ruff couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday, and a message was left for Price with no response.

Sgt. Paul Chagolla, spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, said it's possible the incidents were caught on tape; there are hundreds of cameras throughout the jail, he said. But Chagolla could not say whether the tapes were available for evidence.