Luzerne County Jail Death Lawsuit Settled For $3 Million

Luzerne County Jail Death Lawsuit Settled For $3 Million

Introduction

A $3 million settlement has been approved by the Luzerne County Council over a lawsuit brought by the estate of a former county jail inmate who died two years ago when county corrections officers restrained him during an altercation. According to the lawsuit filed in December 2019, the 41-year-old man from Berwick was incarcerated for an alleged violation of a protection from abuse order. He suffered a severe seizure in his cell at the county correctional facility on June 6, 2018. He was rushed to the hospital after five hours, where he died two days later. The lawsuit alleges that the officers restrained and brutalized the man after they failed to recognize he was suffering from a seizure and used Tasers multiple times to subdue him. The suit further claimed that the corrections officers violated the man's civil rights during a “chaotic and out-of-control” situation. The settlement was approved after a unanimous decision by the Council, and the settlement amount will be covered by the county’s insurance policy. It has been reported that a surveillance video of the incident played a role in the settlement. Two councilmen proposed the council to terminate the county Manager and county Director of Corrections over the incident. County correctional officers were cleared of any wrongdoing in the man's death by the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office. The incident is now a part of recent Black Lives Matters protest rallies in the area. A similar incident took place at Hampton Roads Regional jail on August 19, 2015, which sparked outrage throughout the nation. Jail's former medical provider and the state paid a settlement amount of $3 million to the family of a 24-year-old inmate who died in the jail due to the ill-treatment from the officials. The victim's family said that the boy suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and the officials starved and beat him, which resulted in his death.