Cook County jail guard charged after allegedly punching inmate - New Jersey's Home | News, Weather, Sports | WWORTV | My9

A veteran Cook County correctional officer is facing felony charges of striking an inmate without provocation, then telling him to claim he had struck the officer first.

Rico Palomino, 40, of Chicago, was charged with official misconduct, a Class 3 felony, for the incident on June 16 in the Inmate Receiving Area in Division 5 of the Cook County Jail, according to a release from the Cook County State's Attorney's office.

Palomino, a correctional officer for 12 years, turned himself in Thursday and was ordered held on a $10,000 bond by Judge Adam Bourgeois.

According to prosecutors, Palomino was working at a desk near the inmate receiving area when the inmate, who was waiting to be processed into custody on misdemeanor charges, left a lockup area to get a phone number from his inventoried property.

He stopped at the desk and asked Palomino where the property was kept and continued walking down the hallway. Palomino followed and told him to return to the lockup area or he was going to "{expletive} him up," prosecutors allege.

He then forcefully struck the victim in the face with his fist, causing him to fall to the floor bleeding from the mouth, prosecutors allege. As the men left the hallway, the officer told the man to say he had tried to hit Palomino first or he would say he tried to escape, prosecutors allege.

The victim was treated at Cermak Health Services, receiving stitches for a laceration to the inside of his mouth.

Palomino later submitted several false reports giving conflicting details of the events to justify the use of force. The reports claim the victim reached for or grabbed Palomino's shirt, but the incident was captured on jail surveillance video, which showed the man did not make any aggressive moves toward the much larger Palomino, according to prosecutors.

Palomino's preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 23. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.