New lawsuit hits Prince William-Manassas regional jail

The Prince William-Manassas regional jail is at the center of another lawsuit, this one claiming that among other things jail guards, unprovoked, repeatedly beat an inmate so severely that he faced near death and has since suffered long-term brain damage and memory loss.

"He's incapacitated. It's a miracle he can walk today," attorney Thomas H. Roberts said about his client, Kenneth L. Wagner II. "This man is severely damaged for the rest of his life."

Wagner is seeking a total of $25 million in compensatory and punitive damages in his claims of abuse by jail offi-cials while awaiting a court hearing for what Roberts said he believes was a charge of driving on a suspended license.

Jail Superintendent Col. Peter Meletis said he could not disclose the charge Wagner was being held on because he is no longer an inmate at the jail, and that he cannot comment on pending lawsuits.

Among those named in the lawsuit are 14 jail guards—at least eight of whom were members of the Red Team, known to inmates as the "Goon Squad" for the "rough manner in which they treated in-mates," according to the lawsuit.

Others named in the lawsuit include the former and current jail superintendents; members of the jail's medical staff; the Jail Board; and Jordan J. Kinard, an inmate who allegedly attacked Wagner shortly before the incident with the jail guards.

Noted in the lawsuit, which was recently moved from U.S. District Court in Alexandria to a state court in Stafford County, is the death of William H. Creed III, 27, while incarcerated at the jail on a stolen car charge.

Creed died after being restrained during a routine medical exam and authorities have maintained that there was no wrongdoing. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death was stress-induced heart failure due to restraint-induced asphyxia and blunt trauma.

Earlier this year, Creed's family filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Virginia and the jail, claiming negligence. That lawsuit is still pending.

On Jan. 24, 2006, slightly more than a week before Creed's death, the Wagner lawsuit states the following took place:

Kinard, described in the lawsuit as a violent inmate, struck and pushed Wagner, who has a lengthy record of misde-meanors in Prince William County.

By the time guards arrived, the fight had ended and Wagner was sitting on a bunk in one of the cells, putting on a pair of socks.

According to the lawsuit, the guard yelled at him that he did not need his socks and that his flip-flops would do.

The lawsuit states that jail guards slammed Wagner's head against a concrete bunk after he allegedly responded by cursing at them.

Afterward, Wagner was examined and cleared by the medical staff.

But guards again slammed Wagner's head into concrete after Wagner protested his placement in isolation by clogging the toilet with paper and causing the cell floor to flood, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit alleges that after Wagner was beaten, the jail guards then neglected to get him immediate medical care.

When one of the guards called for a medical emergency, Wagner was apparently found blacked out in his cell with dried blood in his mouth - evidence that he had been unconscious for "a significant amount of time," the lawsuit states.

The alleged actions of the jail guards, Roberts said, were tantamount to punishment and violated Wagner's right to due process.

"His medical bills alone are well over a half-million dollars and climbing," Roberts said recently. "When you factor in a lifetime of assisted living, the … cost is going to be staggering, let alone the price you put on somebody's life, turning him from a 27-year-old into about a 12-year-old for the rest of his life."

Prior to Jan. 24, Wagner complained to jail officials multiple times that he feared for his safety as the only white man on his cell block and submitted at least two requests to be moved, the lawsuit alleges.

And what followed the incident, the lawsuit states, was a cover-up that entailed removing "legal letters and papers" from witnesses, including Kinard.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that one of the jail guards threatened Kinard, stating, "You know what happened to Wagner, don't be next."

Roberts said initial requests for documents pertaining to the incident, including statements made by any witnesses, were denied.

While the lawsuit is at the initial stages, Roberts said he expects to begin the discovery process in the coming months.

"Eventually, I will get the jail logs of who was present in the pod and we will be taking depositions of each of the individuals who witnessed these events."

Staff writer Elisa Glushefski can be reached at 703-878-8062.