A man is accusing an officer from a South Carolina-based jail of “brutalizing” him while in custody last year.
The allegations made by Eldred Joe are included in a federal lawsuit filed on Tuesday, March 12. The complaint lists the Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office and detention officer Morgan Ridges as defendants. It demands a jury trial and seeks punitive and compensatory damages.
On May 3, 2023, Joe was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. It came following a report of a man pulling bushes from multiple businesses. He was homeless and not taking medication for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia at the time of his arrest.
According to the lawsuit, Joe was transported to Marlboro County Detention Center by Bennettsville Police and underwent the booking process. During this time, Joe became “uncooperative” and was put on his stomach while detention staff collected his property before placing him in a holding cell.
After the police officers left the building, the filing alleges that Ridges started to beat Joe. At one point, according to the lawsuit, the officer was standing on his head, putting his right foot on top of him.
“Defendant Ridges additionally stomped and struck [Joe] in the head with his right foot,causing [Joe’s] head to strike the floor,” the suit obtained by Atlanta Black Star said. “Defendant Ridges then attempted to put a ‘spit mask’ on [Joe’s] face but [Joe’s] head kept moving. Defendant Ridges responded by striking [Joe] in the face with a closed fist.”
The following day, two officers arrived at the jail to take Joe to McLeod Health, a mental health facility. They found him rocking and curled on the floor, shouting, “Lord help me.” The floor tiles inside the cell were broken or scattered, the lawsuit said. Upon arrival, and after his restraints were removed, doctors noticed that he had abrasions on his wrists, and his arm and hand were swollen due to the tight handcuffs. He had open cuts, specifically on his right wrist.
“Plaintiff’s wrist wounds required antibiotic treatment and surgical intervention,which included debridement of necrotic tissue,” the lawsuit noted. “Plaintiff thereafter underwent complex closure of his traumatic wrist wounds, to include skin, subcutaneous tissue, and muscle fascia.”
Joe stayed in the hospital for nearly two weeks before he moved back to Lake County, Florida. The charges against him were cleared at the top of the year. His legal team includes national civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers. They have called on the sheriff’s office to be transparent with the public and to release the video of the incident that left Joe injured.
“Stories like this where men and women are beaten, brutalized, dehumanized and even killed in jails across America, often by the officers pledged to guard and protect them, are all too common and that’s just the ones we know about,” Sellers said in a statement. “Eldred’s Joe’s only crime was that he was sick. Officer Ridges didn’t beat him because he was violent or some kind of threat. He did it because he could and because he believed no one would care.”
According to WMBF, Ridges was terminated from his job and charged with misconduct in office and third-degree assault and battery.
