FBI agents began arresting Los Angeles County sheriff's officials Monday as part of a wide-ranging investigation into allegations of abuse and misconduct inside the county's jails, according to sources familiar with the arrests.

At least three people — including a lieutenant, a sergeant and a deputy — were taken into custody as part of a federal obstruction of justice probe into how sheriff's officials handled an FBI informant at the center of the jail investigation, one source familiar with the probe said.

More than a dozen officials are expected to be arrested, sources said.

FULL COVERAGE: Jails under scrutiny

The arrests followed grand jury hearings into whether sheriff's officials hid inmate Anthony Brown from his FBI handlers. At least one witness testified that sheriff's officials moved the inmate and changed his name in an attempt to hide him from federal agents, and that top officials in the department played a role in the plan, according to another source familiar with the grand jury testimony.

http://www.latimes.com/la-me-ln-fbi-sheriff-arrests-jail-20131209,0,5070461.story#axzz2n0EwheNX