 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Inmate: Deputies broke my arm
By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer LARGO -- A Pinellas County Jail inmate is suing Sheriff Everett Rice, claiming jail deputies broke his arm when they placed him in a restraint chair last year. Elliott Shawn Campbell, 34, who faces charges of home invasion robbery and false imprisonment, filed the lawsuit Wednesday, claiming negligence led to his broken arm. Sheriff's officials declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying it is pending litigation. Campbell was in the Pinellas County Jail facing other charges Oct. 10, when he claims his arm was broken. The incident was videotaped by the sheriff's office, following procedure designed to cover deputies accused of abuse. "It shows them (inmates), if they are resisting, how violent they are," sheriff's spokesman Detective Cal Dennie said. "It's a good tool to display the inmates' behavior." The restraint chair is used by jail deputies to subdue inmates who are particularly unruly, disruptive or violent. Straps are secured around the inmates' hands, feet and waist to immobilize them. In the video of the incident involving Campbell, which has been reviewed by the Times, he can be heard yelling in the background. A deputy announces to the camera that Campbell has been unruly and will be placed in the chair. The tape shows Campbell has a cast on his left arm, which he claims was previously injured. He is asking the deputies for medical attention. "I have a broken arm," he tells the deputies. "All I want to do is see a doctor." The deputies sit Campbell in a chair. One moves his left arm to place it in a strap, which prompts a blood-curdling scream from Campbell. He yells: "My arm! My arm!" The lawsuit states that the deputy "attempted to place (Campbell's) left wrist in the side hand cuff restraint by taking hold of the broken arm and twisting it out and then downward." The suit states that this action broke Campbell's arm again. The deputy then grabs Campbell's neck and tells him to relax. "How can I relax when my arm is broken?" Campbell responds. At one point Campbell says: "Oh, my God. You guys are crazy." Then he looks into the camera and says: "Make sure you save that tape. Oh, my God." There is no conclusive evidence in the video of whether Campbell was acting or if his arm was actually broken by the deputy. Copies of Campbell's medical records were not included in the lawsuit and could not be obtained by the Times on Friday. At one point, one deputy looks into the camera and shakes his head, as if indicating that Campbell is faking his injury. A nurse does appear in the video to look at Campbell, but the suit claims she did not provide him medical care. "At no time during the intake did (Campbell) offer any resistance to or display any hostile or aggressive behavior toward the correctional officers," the suit states. The suit claims that when Campbell finally saw medical staff, the cast was removed, which showed "the broken bone protruding against the skin." "I think it's important to note that he needed to have ... other surgeries because of this," said Campbell's attorney, Herman B. Blumenthal III. "The healing process was sort of nasty. It wasn't a pleasant situation." Blumenthal said he respects corrections officers and the jobs they do, but thought their actions in this situation were wrong. Campbell, who has a history of more than a dozen arrests in Pinellas County since 1993, is seeking more than $15,000. The individual deputies involved are not named in the suit. Some of their last names are used in describing the complaint, while others are not named. No one has filed a complaint with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office's internal affairs unit seeking an investigation of the incident. Often, attorneys will file complaints with internal affairs before filing a lawsuit so they can see what investigators uncover after interviewing deputies. Blumenthal said he felt filing a lawsuit was the best course of action.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times North Pinellas desks |
