Lawsuit alleges an inmate beaten by Tarrant County jailers was left in cell for 2 days
A man who was incarcerated at the Tarrant County Jail and severely beaten by three jailers was left in his cell in pain for two days before an ambulance was called to care for him, according to a lawsuit.
The injuries Corey Rodrigues, 45, suffered in 2020 included bleeding in his lungs, a collapsed lung, five to 10 rib fractures and a broken cheek bone that required surgery.
Rodrigues’s sister has previously told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that no one notified their family that Rodrigues was hospitalized or going into surgery. They read about Rodrigues’s injuries in the newspaper. A spokesperson for the jail then said it is up to medical staff to make family notifications.
The jail didn’t immediately return a request for comment about the lawsuit. The defendants are the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, which operates the jail, and the three officers, who were later fired and charged.
Reginald Lowe was charged with aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury. Lewis Velasquez and Dakota Coston were charged with official oppression. All of the former officers were released on bond, and all three cases are still pending.
In an interview with investigators, Coston described the assault as being a “normal thing” in that housing unit, which the lawsuit described as being used for people who suffer with mental illnesses, such as Rodrigues.
On July 19, 2020, Lowe, Velasquez and Coston went into Rodrigues’ cell about 4:54 a.m. without a supervisor present and without a code being called. They said the reason was because a piece of clothing was covering the cell window.
An affidavit for their arrests says Rodrigues threw that piece of clothing at the officers as they swung open the cell door.
Then, Lowe walked inside the cell, stepped onto the bunk and slammed Rodrigues on the bunk. Video footage taken from outside the cell shows that Lowe punched Rodrigues about six times. The other officers were in the cell as Rodrigues and Lowe continued to fight. Velasquez was seen on video positioning himself in the doorway to block the camera view, according to the affidavit.
The three officers later told another officer that Rodrigues first hit them with a muumuu, which was the only type of clothing Rodrigues was permitted to wear. The lawsuit said that Rodrigues threw the muumuu, which is like a hospital gown, to protect himself.
No use of force report was filled out by the officers. All three were earlier involved in an inspection of Rodrigues’s cell that night and Rodrigues “was good during the call inspection,” according to the affidavit. According to the report, Rodrigues was known to “challenge” the officers but was never violent.
When interviewed by investigators, Velasquez described the fight as a “tussle” and said he didn’t see if the men were “making contact” with each other. Velasquez admitted that Rodrigues had gotten slammed into the bunk but said he “continued to fight,” so he thought he was fine, according to the report.
After being shown the video, Coston told investigators that he felt the event was “passive guidance and not a hands-on altercation.”
Lowe said he tried to pin Rodrigues to the ground so he could get the muumuu, but that Rodrigues kicked and swung back. Lowe said he didn’t believe unnecessary force was used, according to the affidavit.
Rodrigues is seeking damages of $400,000 to $4 million, to be determined by a jury.
