A former prisoner has filed a lawsuit against Clark County Jailer Bobby Stone and two deputies after he was assaulted by three cellmates.
Anthony Lee, 43, of 8 Wainscott Ave., claims he was lodged in the jail on Nov. 21, 2011, and placed in cell 98 with three other prisoners. Lee said he was booked at the jail shortly after 7 p.m., and was assaulted by three cellmates about four hours later.
Lee said he did nothing to provoke the attack and was seriously injured, but specific injuries were not listed.
In the suit, Lee said “some or all of the men in pod 98 ... had previously attacked other inmates of the jail.”
He said Stone and the two deputy jailers, Tony Pesina and Emma Townsend, should have known that other prisoners had been assaulted by the people in cell 98 and were negligent by placing Lee in that cell where they “could reasonably have anticipated that Lee would be harmed.”
According to court records, Lee was arrested on a warrant. As he was being booked at the jail, deputies found a plastic bag of loose tobacco on Lee. Tobacco is not allowed in the jail and Lee was charged with second-degree promoting contraband. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three days in jail.
Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham was also named as a defendant in the suit, because the fiscal court is the governing agency for the jail and adopted the policy and procedures manual for the jail.
Stone said Monday afternoon that he had not been served with the lawsuit yet and could not comment.
Branham could not be reached by press time.
Lee is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and a jury trial.
Contact Fred Petke at fpetke@winchestersun.com.
