CHARLESTON — A man is suing three correctional officers he alleges caused him injuries while he was an inmate at South Central Regional Jail.
Correctional Officers Spalding, Moore and Thompson were all named as defendants in the suit.
Damien McDougal was an inmate at South Central Regional Jail and in 2020 and on Nov. 9, 2020, Spalding and Moore entered his pod to lock down the inmates for the evening and when Spalding was at McDougal's cell, he told him and his cellmate to remove something from their door or they would be written up for tampering with locks, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.
McDougal claims he went to comply with this order and remove the item from the door when Spalding slapped his hand and told him to step back. He responded that he was complying with the previous order and asked why Spalding had slapped his hand.
"Defendant Spalding closed the cell door and it hit Plaintiff's ankle as it shut," the complaint states. "Plaintiff and Defendant Spalding proceeded to get into an argument. Defendants Spalding and Moore then opened Plaintiff's cell door and told him to exit the cell."
Moore then began to argue with the plaintiff and took his radio and set it on the table and told the plaintiff to walk over to him and began making threats and acting aggressively, according to the suit.
McDougal claims Moore grabbed him by the throat, choked him and called him derogatory names and Spalding then sprayed him with OC spray.
The defendants then began striking him and he fell to the ground, where they continued to strike him, according to the suit.
McDougal claims the defendants used excessive force and caused him injuries, including knocking out part of his front tooth, injuring his head and body and his knee.
The defendants' actions were considered outrageous conduct and cruel and unusual punishment, according to the suit.
McDougal is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He is represented by Paul E. Stroebel of Stroebel & Stroebel in Charleston.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Carrie Webster.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 22-C-619