Real Housewives Son Attacked In Orange County Jail

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — The son of a former "Real Housewives of OC" cast member was attacked by a fellow inmate in Orange County Jail Wednesday night. On Friday, Joel Garson, attorney for Waring, said he would seek to lower his client's bail because sheriff's deputies appear incapable of protecting the high-profile client.

On Wednesday, Waring made a phone call regarding one of his legal battles, and was on his way back to his cell at the Intake-Release Center in Santa Ana when a blade-wielding inmate was awaiting him, Waring's attorney Joel Garson said.

Waring, considered of notable status due to his high profile mother's stint on RHOC, is supposed to be "in a sort of custody that separates him from other inmates," Garson said. "Being notable makes him more vulnerable for attack from other inmates."

As he walked back from his telephone call, an inmate wielding two blades confronted Waring, according to Garson.

"Josh tried to defend himself, but was slashed in the chest and face," Garson said. "It took guards five or six minutes to arrive. He was lucky he didn't get cut in an artery or somewhere else and bled to death. He never should have been in contact with this other inmate."

The attacking inmate, also in protective custody, was supposed to have been separated from other Waring and other incarcerated people.

Waring was rushed to an infirmary where he received 20 staples to his body, as well as stitches and butterfly bandages on his face, Garson said.

He was then returned to the same jail module, still just two doors down from his attacker, Garson said.

Thursday night, they suddenly moved Waring to the Theo Lacy Jail in Orange, Garson said.

The attack comes on the heels of another recent attack Waring outlined in a federal class-action lawsuit in which he is a plaintiff.

While Waring was awaiting trial on attempted murder charges, he was thrown in "the hole" for trying to fix a television in the dayroom, he said.

Waring spent 10 days in solitary confinement and was then taken to another part of the jail where, he said, gang members "green-lighted me" for an attack.

When Waring raised concerns about his safety and asked to see a psychiatrist, he was told that was only possible if he felt suicidal, he said. Waring alleged deputies later "threw me naked ... into a tiny all-cement cell filthy with feces" and a broken toilet.

Waring alleged he was denied medication for seizures while in the cell and suffered a seizure while confined there.

"We're going to subpoena the video of the incident and seek a bail reduction ... in that the sheriff's department cannot protect Mr. Waring's safety,"

Waring was arrested in June of 2016, with bail set at $1,050,000.

Though Waring's attorney has alleged that concerns with Waring's safety are due to allegations he has made in phone calls and the lawsuit he has filed against the sheriff's department, Orange County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Carrie Braun has said that the accusation was "completely untrue."

Waring told his attorney that he had warned deputies about the inmate who attacked him, Garson said. "It seems odd that with all the warnings, they put him in a module two doors down, where he warned he could be a potential danger to him."

City News Service, with Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig