Just another lawsuit. County Employees just being themselves doing what they want to do, Sex Pest West just hits on women, ever seen that in action? Par and the jail, well, it’s a problem no one wants to face, including our Commissioners and County Judge. The taxpayers voted him in so enjoy the lawsuits, tick tock, it will only get worse, but, hey, it’s Matt Dillon so party on. Chances are they won’t do it to anyone’s kid that has money, probably just a minority, and no body cams so, it’s all cool.
Former McLennan County Jail inmate files lawsuit, claims jailers beat him while suffering from seizure
(Source: KAIT-TV)
Published: Mar. 22, 2024 at 4:41 PM CDT|Updated: 2 hours ago
WACO, Texas (KWTX) – A former McLennan County Jail inmate claims in a federal lawsuit that jailers “sadistically” beat him and aggressively restrained him while he was in the throes of a seizure in March 2022.
Bennie Daryl Scott, 58, is alleging multiple civil rights violations in his lawsuit, filed in Waco’s U.S. District Court against McLennan County, Sheriff Parnell McNamara, former jail administrator Ricky Armstrong and 10 jail employees.
McNamara said Friday he is aware of the lawsuit but declined additional comment. Armstrong, who now works for the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, and Waco attorney Mike Dixon, who represents McLennan County, both said they were not aware of the lawsuit and declined comment Friday.
Scott, who was jailed on state jail felony unlawful use of a motor vehicle and misdemeanor evading arrest charges, had a history of medical issues, including seizures, and jail officials were aware of that, the lawsuit alleges.
Scott’s attorney, Billy Clark, of Dallas, said McLennan County and McNamara “have a serious problem on their hands,” adding that jail inmates deserve to be treated better and with “common decency and respect.”
“We continue to find out extremely disturbing instances of inmates being attacked, beaten, and tased while being confined within the McLennan County Jail. Most of these victims are Black men. Mr. Bennie Scott is sadly another Black victim who was savagely beaten up by McLennan County Jail officers,” Clark said.
Clark said “what’s even more shocking” is the jail video surveillance “suddenly had a gap where Scott’s attack was not recorded.” Also, he alleges, the jail nurse who “normally documents the medical care of an inmate failed to make notes of Scott’s on-scene medical treatment.”
“In Mr. Scott’s case, Bennie Scott was a disabled inmate known to be disabled by jail staff,” Clark said. “He experienced a medical emergency, but instead of helping him, jail officers attacked him, dropped him on his head, aggravated an injury and did not take him to Baylor Scott & White Hospital until the next day. The jail nursing staff did very little to address Mr. Scott’s immediate concerns by essentially saying that Mr. Scott wasn’t sick, was not having an emergency and he was, in fact, ‘malingering.’”
Scott’s lawsuit alleges he was suffering a “severe seizure” that caused him to have uncontrollable and involuntary movements. He was suffering “acute grand mal seizure symptoms” when jailers entered his cell to check on him.
“Earlier on this morning and possibly on the evening of March 19, 2022, and before Mr. Scott was viciously attacked by jailers, Mr. Scott informed several defendants that he was essentially having symptoms of a seizure and was going to possibly have one,” the suit alleges.
A jailer saw that Scott was on the floor shivering and was unresponsive to officers’ commands. The jailer ordered the “unconscious or semiconscious” Scott not to move or he would be tased,” the suit claims.
A jail nurse and other jailers entered his cell to check on him, the lawsuit claims. Later that morning, six jailers entered the area where Scott was being housed and “physically assaulted him, causing him serious bodily and psychological injuries,” according to the lawsuit.
A jailer reported when he arrived at Scot’s cell, Scott was “laying on his back kicking the cell door.”
“Even though Scott informed (four jailers) he could not walk or stand, officers still used excessive force to get him to his feet,” the suit alleges. “The excessive force resulted in Mr. Scott being continually injured from effects of a seizure and maltreatment by the responding jail officers.”
Scott suffered a “severe laceration of his eye” and he eventually was taken to a hospital, where he was shackled and placed in an “emergency restraint chair.”
“Mr. Scott is now left with permanent physical and psychological injuries that are too numerous to list,” Clark said. “Obviously, there is a systematic problem in McLennan County when it comes to the unconstitutional treatment of inmates — especially inmates that have a known disability and those that are Black.”
Clark also represents another former McLennan County Jail inmate, Marvin Berry, who also reportedly was prone to seizures and claims he asked to be allowed to sleep on a lower bunk.
He was injured after he had a seizure and fell from the upper bunk, according to the lawsuit.
Berry’s suit, filed last year, remains pending.
