By Alexander Wilson-
A man who became paralysed after being tackled by prison guards has been awarded a $17.5 million payout.
Fletcher’s mother, April Jacobsen, said the settlement will go towards adapting her home to be wheelchair accessible and caring for her son.
State correctional officers in Chillicothe Correctional Institution attacked Seth Fletcher, 21, after they claimed to have seen him with a cigarette which also contained drugs, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Fletcher was then handcuffed and escorted to the segregated housing unit. However, while en route, he was tackled to the ground. In that moment, he suffered a severe spinal cord injury.
Guards then picked him up by the arms and legs, face down, and carried him to the clinic.
Guards and nurses shamefully ignored his claims of being unable to move or feel his legs, insensitively dropping him several times after the initial injury.
A guard then cruelly poured water into Fletcher’s mouth and up his nose to supposedly fulfil his request for a drink.
The shocking incident reported in The Columbus Dispatch also revealed that a guard bragged about the cruel treatment he had and his cohort of evil men had subjected the man to.
Text messages reveal one guard, Garrett Osbon, bragged about it. Fletcher’s attorney released copies of Osbon’s text messages he obtained through the lawsuit.
Osbon’s bragging in text messages continued after Fletcher was taken to Ohio State Medical Center. He said: “the dude I broke his nose is now paralyzed with a broken neck, and they say his face looks like he had been dropped and dragged through concrete, LMAO” and “It feels good to know that I played a small part in paralyzing a cho, LMAO.
In the early hours, Acting Capt. Ta-Rance White checked on Fletcher, who again said he couldn’t move – however, it wasn’t until the next morning after psychologist Eric Anderson’s visit that he was sent to Ohio State Wexner Medical Centre for emergency spinal surgery.
Garrett Osbon, an ex-officer who resigned amid Fletcher’s lawsuit, reportedly earlier said in text messages, ‘We also water boarded him LMAO’ and ‘I broke a dudes nose today, yeah this was not reported, there was way too much blood so I mopped it up’.
He also wrote, ‘The dude I broke his nose is now paralyzed with a broken neck, and they say his face looks like he had been dropped and dragged through concrete, LMAO’ and ‘It feels good to know that I played a small part in paralysing a cho, LMAO’.
Sentence
Fletcher had been sentenced to two years pandering sexually-oriented material involving minors. His attorneys allege the videotape he made with his girlfriend was consensual.
Laughing after mega compensation: Seth Fletcher Image: facebook
He filed his lawsuit against the prison’s staff last year. Since then, the state prisons department has fired three people and issued one-day working suspensions to two staff members involved, while six others retired and one took medical retirement.
The vil offivcers got away lightly. They should have faced criminal prosecution.