Sheriff deputy is sensationally sacked for horrific act to woman (2025)

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A California sheriff deputy has been fired after injuring an elderly woman by shoving her to the ground last year, as caught in shocking surveillance footage.

Video shows disgraced deputy Matthew Gurich throwing a 71-year-old woman out of the main door of the Sacramento County Main Jail in October 2024.

Gurich can be seen throwingOurania Thimmhardy violently onto the sidewalk, with her head narrowly missing a metal pillar.

She lay sprawled on the ground for several seconds afterwards while the deputies walked back inside the building, leaving her alone on the sidewalk.

The horrific clip was released in February, and Gurich was placed on administrative leave in March, according to police spokesman Sergeant Amar Gandhi.

Thimmhardy was hospitalized for three weeks following the violent incident, according to her lawyer Mark Merin.

An earlier video from inside the jail also shows deputies speaking with Thimmhardy as they processed her release from jail.It's unclear what the forms were for.

'Please don't touch me, please watch your contact,' she can be heard telling one of the deputies as he placed his hand on her shoulder while asking her to sign the form.

The deputy later roughly escorted her out of the building, forcing her arm behind her back and pushing her out while she asked: 'What are you doing?'

Thimmhardy has a long history of mental illness, according to a lawsuit seen by the Sacramento Bee, and she had been held for two days before her release.

According to police records, Thimmhardy refused to sign a processing form while at the jail, and deputies physically escorted her out before pushing her out of the exit.

Thimmhardy's lawsuit states that she cannot 'climb stairs' and now needs the assistance of care workers because of injuries inflicted by the deputy.

While she was in hospital for three weeks recovering from the incident, her husband suffered a heart attack and died, Merin said.

He called for criminal charges against Gurich, accountability for the wider police force, and 'major changes' to the way the jail has been run.

'Time has run out for the need to make substantial changes in the way the county deals with jail inmates from the top down,' Merin told the Sacramento Bee.

'There has to be training, there has to be staff accountability and they have to look at people who are in custody as human beings, who need care and help and not mistreatment.'

The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office said it had received police reports in this case but did not provide more information, citing a pending investigation.

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