Inmate slips, sues jail

CHARLESTON - An inmate at Western Regional Jail in Barboursville is suing the jail, the Regional Jail Authority and the State of West Virginia over a slip and fall.

Robert M. Crum filed the lawsuit himself May 2 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Crum alleges that a transport van that was carrying him was not safe.

He says the defendants "willfully and negligently did operate and transport myself and other inmates in a transport van to Wayne County with a faulty side step."

Crum was being taken March 15 to the Wayne County courthouse. He says he fell on the step and an officer attempted to catch him.

He adds that he was refused extensive medical treatment.

"I have been seen by the medical department and have been told that because nothing showed up on the X-ray that there was nothing that could be done and I would not have an MRI ordered," the complaint says.

Crum is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for his pain and suffering and emotional distress, as well as court costs.

Judge Tod Kaufman has been assigned the case.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number 06-C-809