Officers' Shocking Neglect of Disturbed South Bay Jail Inmate Caught on Camera

SAN JOSE (KPIX) -- Body camera footage recorded the day an inmate repeatedly beat his head while being transported to the Santa Clara County main jail and then pleaded to correctional officers for medical help was released Friday, three years after the incident.

The release comes after county supervisors demanded the sheriff's office share the footage with the public and called for a multi-agency investigation into Sheriff Laurie Smith who oversees the jail.

"I want the public to look at this video and say, 'Somebody needs to be held accountable,'" said supervisor Joe Simitian who, along with supervisor Otto Lee, led the request for the investigation into Smith. "Then I want to see that accountability in our sheriff's department, starting with the sheriff herself."

In the video, Andrew Hogan can be heard asking correctional officers at the Elmwood facility to see a nurse after expressing he didn't feel well in August of 2018.

Hogan becomes agitated and hits his head against the door in his cell before he is shackled and moved to the lobby of the facility. As he waits, his agitation doesn't subside and he is eventually taken to a jail transport van, which he initially refuses to enter.

"The doctor is waiting for you, the doctor is waiting for you," a woman is heard saying.

However, according to a report released by the county, neither an ambulance nor medical staff were waiting for Hogan at the main jail.

By this time, Hogan was bleeding profusely from his head and he told officers that he had a large gash.

Body camera video shows Hogan continuing to hit his head inside the van on his way to the main jail and an officer behind the wheel even calls a sergeant saying "He's banging his head. He's got blood everywhere in our van right now."

Once at the jail, however, a shackled Hogan is kept inside the van.

"I'm dying, hey, get me out you guys," he can be heard yelling. "I need water because I'm going to pass out. Please get me water."

Instead, the video shows officers shutting the van doors on Hogan.

Then, in what Simitian said is most disturbing, a female correctional supervisor tells the officers that Hogan will remain in the van until an ambulance arrives.

"We're going to wait, he can do all the damage he wants, we're waiting it to be safe for us," she is heard saying in the footage.

"The response from the supervisor on duty was let him do his worst," Simitian said. "How can that not just send a shiver through any of us who have some sense of humanity."

Hogan, who now suffers from long-term disabilities from the incident, was in a coma for several weeks.

Simitian said an internal affairs investigation was opened after the jail transport then was quietly closed. He said the public would have never heard of the case had Hogan's family not filed their lawsuit.

It was settled for $10 million -- the largest settlement in county history.

Shortly after the incident, one of the supervisors on duty received a promotion and a raise and another still works for the county, according to Simitian.

KPIX reached out to the sheriff's office for comment Friday, but has not yet heard back.