CHARLESTON – A former Mount Olive Correctional Center inmate says he was mistreated and subjected to excessive force while serving time.
He says correctional officers at the facility used excessive sprayed him pepper spray and shot him with a baton launcher during an attack. He says the officers also ridiculed and taunted him.
Charles Lively filed his complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against Correctional Officer Buzzard, Sgt. Ryan Hill, John Does and the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
According to Lively’s complaint, Mount Olive employees were participating in a shakedown at the facility. When Lively asked to speak to a captain, Buzzard sprayed him with pepper spray without cause. Lively said his cell already had been searched and nothing was found. As the officers continued to harass Lively, he says he was shot with a baton launcher.
He also says the defendants placed him in a restraint chair for an excessive period of time and didn’t allow him to properly rinse off the pepper spray.
Lively says the officers made no efforts to temper as required by WVDOCR police, the United States Constitution and a federal court order. He also said WVDOCR policy required there be video recording of events, but he says they either intentionally failed to record the encounter or discarded the video to hinder his ability to file this complaint. He says officials also destroyed logs and other documentation essential to his claims.
Lively seeks compensatory damages for physical injuries, medical expenses, emotional and mental distress. He also seeks punitive damages, court costs, attorney fees, pre- and post-judgment interest and other relief.
He is being represented by Paul Stroebel of Stroebel & Stroebel in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Tera Salango.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 20-C-228