By Rhonda Cook
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ATLANTA — The FBI has extended its investigation into claims of inmate abuse at the Fulton County Jail to include an Aug. 9 incident when officers allegedly beat an inmate who was in handcuffs and leg chains, a spokesman said Tuesday.
FBI spokesman Steve Emmett declined to give details beyond confirming the bureau’s investigation of possible inmate abuse had expanded to include the case of Christopher Trammell, who was injured in the beating. The FBI already was looking into whether jailers beat another inmate, Richard Glasco, so badly he died from his injuries last March.
Spokeswoman Sgt. Nikita Adams-Hightower said the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, which runs the jail, will cooperate with the FBI investigation and “give them anything they need.” She declined to release details of the incident because there also is an ongoing internal investigation.
Riley Taylor, the auditor for a federal judge who has ordered improvements at the jail, said Trammell, being held on aggravated battery and car theft charges, punched a lieutenant who tried to intercede in a dispute between the inmate and a female detention officer. Trammell, 27, was injured when the lieutenant subdued him.
Several other officers allegedly attacked Trammell in a treatment room where he was waiting to be taken to the hospital, Taylor said, answering questions at the behest of Judge Marvin Shoob.
Adams-Hightower said no officers have been disciplined or reassigned.
Copyright 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution