San Diego Deputy Arrested Over Alleged Inmate Relationship

San Diego County sheriff’s Deputy Ricky Garcia, 37, was arrested on suspicion of having sex with an incarcerated woman at the Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility on multiple occasions in June and July 2026. A criminal complaint charges him with five felony counts of sexual activity with a person confined in a detention facility. The investigation began after a sheriff’s employee raised concerns; Garcia was removed from duties overseeing inmates while the department’s Sexual Assault Unit investigated, and the case was referred for prosecution. He was booked into the Vista Detention Facility and placed on unpaid leave. Sheriff Kelly Martinez called the allegations abhorrent and said the department would hold employees accountable; state law prohibits jail staff from engaging in sexual activity with inmates, even if it is purportedly consensual.