By C1 Staff
SALINE COUNTY, Ark. — The Saline County Sheriff’s office has settled in a civil suit against the jail after a former inmate alleged abuse during his incarceration.
Video of the incident shows inmate Anthony Westbrook in a restraint chair, being slammed into a wall by jail deputy Calvin Reed.
What isn’t shown, according to FOX 13, is Westbrook taking paperwork off of a desk and putting it in his pants.
“I didn’t know that I had accidentally picked up another piece of paper that was underneath my paperwork, that’s all it was,” Westbrook claimed.
But he did admit to getting angry after being searched for the papers, landing him in the restraint chair.
Westbrook claims the chair was so tight that his “whole arm was purple” and that his fingers tingled as though they’d been asleep.
As for the slam against the wall?
“It looked as if Mr. Westbrook may have hit his leg and this may have been a reaction to that,” said Lt. Scott Courtney.
Westbrook was asked if he kicked Reed, but he said he hadn’t. He moved forward with suing the county; before the suit could go to trial, a $5,000 settlement was reached. It will be paid with public funds.