The Associated Press
TAMPA An inmate claims deputies tipped him out of his wheelchair and left him on the Hillsborough County Jail floor for more than an hour, his attorney said Wednesday.
Attorney John Trevena said the incident with his client Benjamin Rayburn, 32, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence, was captured on videotape.
“There is widespread abuse of inmates,” Trevena said. “It’s not limited to Hillsborough County Jail. It’s just that the Hillsborough County Jail maintains very detailed video archives inside the jail.”
Rayburn is paralyzed from the chest down, Trevena said.
The allegations come just weeks after another deputy there resigned and was charged with one count of felony abuse of a disabled person after a video showed her dumping a paralyzed man on the floor. Trevena also represents that inmate, Brian Sterner.
The Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office didn’t immediately respond to telephone messages left by The Associated Press on Wednesday night.
The incident happened Oct. 3, 2006, after Rayburn had a glass crack pipe inside the jail, and swung the pipe at Deputy Brett Strohsack, trying to stab him, according to a sheriff’s report obtained by the St. Petersburg Times.
Rayburn then threw the pipe, which shattered, striking Deputy Derek Shaw in the back of the head. Deputies then “relocated Rayburn from his wheelchair to the holding cell floor,” according to the report.
After the incident, investigators charged Rayburn with aggravated assault, battery on a law enforcement officer and introducing contraband into a county detention center, the report said.
Rayburn has been arrested 17 times in Florida since 1993, state records show.
Trevena said he doesn’t have immediate plans to take legal action against authorities, but added that his client wanted to facilitate reform.
TAMPA An inmate claims deputies tipped him out of his wheelchair and left him on the Hillsborough County Jail floor for more than an hour, his attorney said Wednesday.
Attorney John Trevena said the incident with his client Benjamin Rayburn, 32, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence, was captured on videotape.
“There is widespread abuse of inmates,” Trevena said. “It’s not limited to Hillsborough County Jail. It’s just that the Hillsborough County Jail maintains very detailed video archives inside the jail.”
Rayburn is paralyzed from the chest down, Trevena said.
The allegations come just weeks after another deputy there resigned and was charged with one count of felony abuse of a disabled person after a video showed her dumping a paralyzed man on the floor. Trevena also represents that inmate, Brian Sterner.
The Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office didn’t immediately respond to telephone messages left by The Associated Press on Wednesday night.
The incident happened Oct. 3, 2006, after Rayburn had a glass crack pipe inside the jail, and swung the pipe at Deputy Brett Strohsack, trying to stab him, according to a sheriff’s report obtained by the St. Petersburg Times.
Rayburn then threw the pipe, which shattered, striking Deputy Derek Shaw in the back of the head. Deputies then “relocated Rayburn from his wheelchair to the holding cell floor,” according to the report.
After the incident, investigators charged Rayburn with aggravated assault, battery on a law enforcement officer and introducing contraband into a county detention center, the report said.
Rayburn has been arrested 17 times in Florida since 1993, state records show.
Trevena said he doesn’t have immediate plans to take legal action against authorities, but added that his client wanted to facilitate reform.
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