Inmate charged with attacking son of ‘OC Housewife’ in county lockup
A 36-year-old inmate was charged Tuesday with using a blade to attack the son of a former “Real Housewives of Orange County” cast member while both men were in custody at a local jail.
Jose Jesus Guzman is facing felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon in custody and destroying or concealing evidence in connection with the alleged Oct. 9 attack on Josh Waring.
The violent attack by a fellow inmate, along with an earlier incident where jail deputies are suspected of pepper-spraying a holding area housing Waring and other inmates, led a judge earlier this month to take the unusual step of moving Waring from county lockup to the Santa Ana City Jail while he awaits trial on attempted murder charges. Waring is the son of celebrity Lauri Peterson.
Prosecutors, in a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court, accuse Guzman of using a razor blade to slice Waring. Along with the felony charges, Guzman is also facing a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury. He is scheduled to appear in court for an arraignment on Dec. 5.
Guzman has a lengthy criminal record, court records show, including convictions for assault, kidnapping and evading police in 2008 and domestic battery in 2018.
The attack on Waring occurred in a “total separation” jail housing area, where inmates are supposed to be kept apart from each other. Waring’s attorney, Joel Garson, previously said that Waring’s attacker hid behind stairs before pouncing on Waring, resulting in wounds that required 20 staples.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has confirmed that it is looking into several jailhouse incidents, including the attack on Waring by another inmate, and the alleged pepper-spraying by deputies. Three deputies invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when questioned in court about the incidents.
Prosecutors allege Waring shot and injured another man outside a sober living home in 2016. Waring has denied being involved with the shooting, blaming another man.
In connection to Waring’s criminal case, Garson discovered that at least 34,000 recordings of attorney-client calls were made by the jail’s phone vendor. Such calls are required by law to remain confidential.
Garson has alleged that deputies are retaliating against Waring for his role in uncovering the illegal jailhouse call recordings by “setting him up” for attacks by other inmates. As a result, the defense attorney told a judge last week, Waring is not safe in county lockup, where inmates are traditionally housed while awaiting trial.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Cindy Nichols earlier this month proposed moving Waring from the Theo Lacy Jail Facility in Orange to the Santa Ana City Jail. Waring and his attorney agreed, and the move was approved by Orange County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Fish.