TEXARKANA, Texas - A federal lawsuit filed Thursday in Texarkana alleges a 41-year-old man suffered permanent injury and has incurred more than $1 million in medical bills following a two-day stay at the Bi-State jail in 2018.
The suit, filed by Texarkana lawyer David Carter, alleges William Scott Jones was beaten and denied treatment after being arrested the night of July 17, 2018, by Texarkana, Texas, police for a class C misdemeanor, "walking in the roadway." Such misdemeanor offenses are punishable by a fine only and do not result in jail time if there is a conviction. Speeding is a class C misdemeanor.
At the time Jones was transported to the Bi-State and handed over to jail staff, he "had sustained no physical injuries. Plaintiff had not resisted arrest and there was no use of force by TTPD."
Jones was placed in a one-man cell shortly after midnight July 18, according to the complaint. The complaint alleges face-to-face checks of Jones were not conducted every 30 minutes as required by minimum jail standards for inmates housed in cells by themselves and LaSalle Corrections own policy. LaSalle is a private, for-profit company which contracts with Bowie County to run the jail and is among the defendants named in Jones' suit. LaSalle did not respond to a request for comment.
The complaint Carter filed on William Jones' behalf names LaSalle and a number of LaSalle subsidiaries and administrators as defendants. Also named are Bowie County - which has oversight of the jail; the City of Texarkana, Texas - that city's police department arrested Jones; Bi-State Nursing Supervisor Michelle Arnold, and Licensed Vocational Nurses Joni Slimak-McFaul and Markesha Jones along with Jane and John Doe defendants meant to represent as yet unidentified LaSalle employees working in the Bi-State at the time William Jones was injured.
Neither LaSalle nor Bowie County Judge James Carlow responded to a request for comment as of 11 a.m. Friday. Texarkana, Texas, City Manager Shirley Jaster said the city has not yet been served with a copy of the complaint and that it is customary for the city to refrain from comments on active litigation.
The complaint alleges all of the defendants violated William Jones' civil rights including his 14th amendment right to adequate medical care, food and water. The complaint further alleges violations of Arkansas law because William Jones was housed in areas of the jail which are actually in that state.
The complaint alleges jail staff attempted to check on Jones twice during a two-hour period on the morning of July 18, 2018, and that entries related to those attempted checks state, "absent -not assigned."
"Thus, LaSalle's records indicate the correctional staff 'lost' plaintiff for approximately two hours," the complaint states. "Only LaSalle correctional staff had the capability to remove plaintiff from hiscell and move him to any other location in the jail. During that two-hour period plaintiff sustained a severe physical beating and numerous blunt force injuries, including multiple facial fractures, a fractured nose, fractured ribs and a serious injury to his colon," the complaint states.
Abbout 7 a.m. July 18, 2018, Jones was moved to a medical observation cell where he remained for the next five hours and 13 minutes but no progress notes or medical records were created, according to the complaint. Jones did not receive any treatment while in medical observation and there is "no indication" that medical staff even bothered to check his vital signs.
About 12:30 p.m. the same day, Jones was moved to another one-man cell, according to the complaint. That evening, Jones was allegedly checked by Licensed Vocational Nurse Joni Slimak-McFaul but no notations were made in Jones' file, no aid was rendered and no attempt was made to contact a nursing supervisor or outside emergency medical services.
"LaSalle records reflect that during the next 12 hours plaintiff was repeatedly observed, for the most part, lying naked on the floor of his cell," the complaint states. "Still no medical intervention took place."
A second LVN checked on Jones at approximately 6 a.m. July 19, 2018, but did nothing to address his condition.
"For the next seven hours plaintiff was repeatedly observed lying naked on the floor of his cell," the complaint states.
The complaint alleges Jones identified himself as a diabetic suffering from hypertension but medical staff never checked his blood sugar or blood pressure.
Jones' sister, increasingly concerned about her brother's welfare by the morning of July 19, 2018, was told by jail staff he would be released that day, the complaint states. A sergeant allegedly told Melody Jones Dunn that her brother could speak but was "having a hard time communicating."
At 12:14 p.m., Licensed Vocational Nurse Markesha Jones noted in William Jones' file that he "appears under the influence, stumbling/staggering." Markesha Jones allegedly noted that William Jones "had no 'swelling or bruising'" but noted that his right eye was "swollen and black."
William Jones' sister reportedly received word at about 2:45 p.m. July 19, 2018, that her brother would be released in "10 to 15 more minutes because they had to get plaintiff dressed."
Dunn was so concerned about her brother's condition that she called an ambulance to the public entrance of the Bi-State jail.
"Shortly thereafter, LaSalle personnel wheeled plaintiff out in a restraint chair. Plaintiff was barely able to speak and was begging for water and moaning in pain," the complaint states.
William Jones spent the next month as a patient in Wadley Regional Medical Center where he underwent surgery for his damaged colon. He was diagnosed with acute renal failure, severe dehydration, "ischemic colitis caused by blunt force trauma," multiple facial and rib fractures, sepsis, pneumonia, blood clots and other maladies related to a delay in receiving treatment, according to the complaint.
William Jones was placed on a ventilator and received dialysis while hospitalized. He must now wear an ostomy bag because of the damage to his colon and his medical expenses to date total more than $1 million.
LaSalle's track record
The complaint Carter filed on William Jones' behalf notes LaSalle's history of failing to address the medical needs of inmates. The complaint refers to the 2015 death of Michael Sabbie in the Bi-State jail. Sabbie was denied treatment after telling staff he was having breathing difficulties, pepper sprayed while five jailers piled on top of him and thrown into a one-man cell in contaminated clothing. Sabbie's family recently settled a suit against LaSalle for an undisclosed amount.
Also noted is the 2016 death of Morgan Angerbauer. Angerbauer, 20, a diabetic, banged on the door of her medical observation cell for hours but was not treated. She died of diabetic ketoacidosis, a condition that results from dangerously high blood sugar. A former LaSalle LVN pleaded guilty to misdemeanor negligent homicide in the death and relinquished her license.
"LaSalle correctional staff falsified jail records in both death cases, stating that required 30-minute face-to-face checks had been done when in fact they had not. Likewise, in both cases nursing staff falsified jail records and fabricated a false time line in a feeble attempt to avoid responsibility for those deaths," the complaint states. "Falsification of jail records is a felony in the state of Texas. At least two witnesses testified that LaSalle literally trained and instructed correctional officers at the Bi-State not to conduct the required checks and to falsify detainee check records."
A federal civil suit stemming from Angerbauer's death is set for jury selection in March before a federal judge in Texarkana.
The complaint mentions as well the deaths of two inmates in a LaSalle-managed jail in McClennan County, Texas, in 2015 and 2016 where staff failed to conduct required checks and falsified records.
"Four LaSalle guards were charged criminally in those cases for falsifying jail records," the complaint states.
Carter's filing notes a 2017 death of a detainee in a LaSalle-managed jail in Parker County, Texas.
"Between 2016 and 2018 the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement found that LaSalle had engaged in a persistent pattern of falsifying training records. TCOLE secured sworn statements from more than a dozen LaSalle correctional officers at Parker County jail confirming that they did not receive much of the training reported to TCOLE," the complaint states. "Investigators with the Texas Rangers secured admissions from LaSalle staff at that facility that they do not conduct the required face-to-face checks unless they hear something out of the ordinary."
Missing video
Within a week of William Jones' admission to Wadley hospital, Carter submitted an open records request and evidence preservation letter to LaSalle requesting all records and video footage from the time of Jones' arrest.
"According to LaSalle, there is no available footage and LaSalle has no knowledge of plaintiff's beating or any other 'incident', involving (Jones)," the complaint states. "This makes no sense as plaintiff could not be moved within the jail or exposed to other detainees unless LaSalle correctional staff effectuated and supervised the move."
Jones is seeking a judgment to compensate him for his current and future medical expenses; past and future pain, suffering and mental anguish; loss of earnings and earning capacity; scarring and disfigurement and caretaking expenses.
Carter is requesting that the defendants be ordered to pay punitive damages. That type of judgment is meant to punish the defendants and deter future similar conduct. The complaint also seeks attorney fees and court costs.
"At least 10 people being held at the Bi-State jail have died since LaSalle began operating the facility in 2013," Carter said in an interview this week. "This death rate far exceeds those in government-operated jails. LaSalle is making critical decisions based on what is best for it's bottom line, with little or no regard for their obligation under the U.S. Constitution not to be deliberately indifferent to detainees experiencing serious medical needs."
The case is currently pending before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas.