CHARLESTON – A Kanawha County man incarcerated in the Western Regional Jail says he suffered assault and battery at the hands of officers while in custody.
Clancey Fields filed a lawsuit April 5 in Kanawha Circuit Court against the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority, Austin G. Burke, Lawrence Wolf, Chester Richmond and several unnamed correctional officers/special response team members, alleging assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violation of constitutional rights.
The complaint arises from an incident that occurred April 10, 2014 at the Western Regional Jail, when the suit says jailers conducted a raid or special response team training session. According to the complaint, Burke, Wolf and Richmond shot the plaintiff with bean bag gun pellets and threw flash grenades in his cell, causing him to suffer mental anguish, embarrassment and physical injury. Fields says administrators have ignored the grievances he filed in the case, and that the defendants have mounted a conspiracy to suppress evidence in the case.
Fields seeks a jury trial and punitive and compensatory damages, as well as reimbursement of court costs. He is represented by attorney Paul M. Stroebel of Stroebel & Johnson PLLC in Charleston.
Judge James C. Stucky is assigned to the case.
Kanawha Circuit Court Case number 16-C-510
