WOODLAND HILLS, Calif.—The wife of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who killed himself earlier this year—one of eight suicides among current or former agency employees— announced the filing of a $20 million damages claim against the department Dec. 8, claiming forced overtime hours led to her husband’s severe depression.
Deputy Arturo Atilano-Valadez died Nov. 7 and was one of four people connected with the sheriff’s department to die of suicide within a 24-hour period. According to the damages claim filed on behalf of his wife, Michele Atilano, and their two children, the deputy was “forced to remain working in the jails” for 12 years, often working 12 hours per day or more, “locked in like a prisoner.”
