Beaten Mercer County inmate sues COs, jail warden
TRENTON » A Mercer County inmate is suing two corrections officers who were criminally charged with pummeling the defenseless man and filing false reports to cover up the violent beatdown.
Rafael Jardines was being held at the Mercer County Correction Center in May 2016 when he was the victim of an unprovoked attack by corrections officer Isaac Wood III, the lawsuit said.
Wood’s finance, Trachell Syphax, witnessed the attack and helped her beau cover it up by filing a false report, according to the lawsuit.
The engaged corrections officers were criminally charged following an investigation by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s office into the May 11, 2016 incident, which followed the death of an inmate in solitary confinement the month before.
No one was charged in the 22-year-old inmate’s death after officials concluded he committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell. The men’s attorney said she was contacted by the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey which requested more information about the incidents.
It’s unclear if the U.S. attorney’s office launched an investigation since it would not confirm or deny it inquired about the episodes.
The family of the 22-yearold inmate has vehemently contested their son, whose unexpected death came days before he was being released from the county jail, committed suicide and is also expected to bring suit against the county.
Filed this week by attorney Robin Lord, Jardines’ lawsuit names the county, the correction center, jail warden Charles Ellis and COs Wood and Trachell Syphax, the daughter of well-known Trenton businessman Tracey Syphax.
The county had been told about the corrections officers’ propensity for using excessive force, the lawsuit said, but failed to discipline them for it before they unleashed themselves on Jardines. They were suspended and charged following prosecutors’ probe.
The lawsuit brings claims of civil rights violations, assault and battery, deliberate indifference to Jardines’ medical needs and negligence.
He suffered various injuries, mental anguish, emotional distress, pain and humiliation from the assault.
Seeking damages, attorney fees and a jury trial, Jardines contends the beatdown nearly cost him his “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.”
Jardines was a patient at the Trenton psychiatric hospital and was being held at the county jail on his own charges when Wood and Syphax, engaging in a “joint venture,” used excessive force on Jardines while he was handcuffed, the lawsuit said.
Jardines didn’t disobey any orders from the corrections officers before he was pummeled, the lawsuit said.
Wood punched and kicked an unresisting Jardines after he fell to the ground, the lawsuit said, action taken with the intention of injuring the inmate or permanently harming him, according to the lawsuit.
Jardines suffered a fractured eye socket, broken wrist and bruises across his body, his attorney said. Prison officials took pictures of his injuries.
Syphax witnessed the assault but did nothing to stop it, authorities said.
The corrections officers filed false reports about the incident, the lawsuit said.
Wood was charged with official misconduct and aggravated assault while his fiancée was hit with a charge of official misconduct.
A spokeswoman from the prosecutor’s office said the cases are still pending after the corrections officers were indicted earlier this year.
Their plea offers were not immediately available, and their next court date is set for next month.