‘Broken’ system
Suit: Guards didn’t say who fractured inmate’s arm
A CITY JAIL officer’s incident report omitted a crucial piece of evidence about a violent encounter that left an inmate with a broken arm, according to court testimony Wednesday.
Correction Officer Ulysses Barksdale testified that his “use of force” report included the names of the officers who restrained inmate Marc Lazarre’s legs and his right arm during the encounter inside the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Sept. 23, 2010.
But the paperwork failed to mention that jail officer Michael McLaughlin restrained — and allegedly broke — Lazarre’s left arm. “I have no idea (who broke his arm),” Barksdale testified in Bronx Supreme Court.
When asked why he kept out McLaughlin’s name, he responded that there was no space on the report. He used the three lines available to list the officers who held Lazarre’s right arm, handcuffed him, and tied his leg.
Lazarre, 32, who was in jail facing credit card theft charges, says his nightmare began when he was tossed into solitary and given a phone once a week.
The PIN number for the phone wasn’t working, Lazarre said, so he refused to give it back to officers until it was fixed or a new one was handed over.
That angered the officers, who then denied him food and water for two days, according to a lawsuit filed by Lazarre against seven officers. In a desperate attempt to get out of solitary confinement, Lazarre disconnected the sprinkler on the ceiling of his cell to get water. A probe team armed with mace and batons then forcibly removed him from the cell. “They gave him multiple orders to come out of his cell and he refused every single order,” said attorney Joe Sauer, who is representing the officers. On Wednesday, a seven minute video of that violent encounter was played for the jury. The tape shows Barksdale — who retired after 14 years with the department — walk in first with a plastic shield.
Barksdale testified that Lazarre tried to block the team with his mattress.
A jail captain can be heard repeatedly yelling, “Stop resisting!”
But the officer carrying the camera was largely blocked from capturing what was happening inside the cell.
“This is, for lack of a better term, a CYA video,” Lazarre’s lawyer, Seth Harris, told the jury in his opening statement.
Lazarre (photo) can be heard screaming in pain several times during the encounter. He suffered a fracture on his left arm.
The arm was broken “like a twig,” Harris said.
Lazarre is seeking unspecified damages for pain and suffering and several other violations.