Missouri man was kept in restraint chair for five days, forced to defecate in his pants after suffering manic episode in jail: Lawsuit
A 41-year-old man from Missouri who suffered a manic attack was reportedly shackled in a jail's restraint chair for five days in lieu of medical treatment while being subjected to racial slurs and forced to defecate all over himself, according to a federal lawsuit.
The suit, filed last month on behalf of Albert Okal, has named Wayne County, its sheriff, deputies, and jailers, seeking unspecified damages for the inhuman treatment.
The lawsuit is the latest involving the use of an inmate restraint chair. The chair is specifically designed as a device used to immobilize inmates at risk of hurting themselves or others.
According to Okal's attorney, Steve Walsh, his client was arrested for driving while intoxicated in December 2016 and, while he was in jail, Okal suffered an unexplained manic episode, resulting in jailers placing him in "The Chair."
Walsh, in a statement on Monday, said: "Their solution was to put him in a restraint chair rather than be checked out by a medical officer," according to St Louis Post Dispatch.
The lawsuit alleges that Okal, who is black, was strapped in the restraint chair for five straight days by jailers at the direction of Wayne County Sheriff Dean Finch. Walsh said that his client was not allowed to use the restroom to relieve himself and was forced to defecate and urinate in his pants. He was also forced to wear a blanket over his head for a period of at least 24 hours, and remained shackled at the wrists with jailers forcing food and water down his throat.
The suit has said that the incident resulted in physical pain for Okal and caused him emotional trauma.
The attorney for the county, Albert Spradling, however, defended the sheriff and jailers' actions, saying that any damage suffered by Okal was the result of his own "carelessness and negligence" due to his intoxication and his actions in the jail.
Multiple jails and prisons across the country commonly use restraint chairs, and some inmates have even died being shackled in them.
Another Missouri man, Williams Ames III, who died on November 11 last year in St. Francois County was allegedly strapped in the county jail's restraint chair for more than 24 hours, making him miss multiple doses of anti-seizure medication. His death is currently being investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.