By Terrie Morgan-Besecker
The Times-Tribune
SCRANTON, Pa. — A Florida man who violated his probation for a bad check conviction in Pike County claims he was urinated on and forced to endure other abuse from employees of a prison transport company during a 10-day trip to return him to answer the charges.
Darren Richardson of Spring Hill, Florida, says workers with Prisoner Transport Services of America withheld food, attempted to extort jewelry from him and fastened shackles around his legs so tightly that he lost circulation, causing his legs and feet to turn purple by the time he arrived at the Pike County Correctional Facility last June, according to a federal lawsuit.
The lawsuit says employees of the Tennessee-based transport company also forced the inmates to hand over their debit cards, which the guards used to purchase cigarettes and other items, and subjected them to repeated verbal abuse.
Officials with Prison Transport Services did not respond to emails or a phone message seeking comment.
Mr. Richard’s attorney, James Conaboy of Scranton, said issues involving private transport companies are becoming a “national epidemic.” The lawsuit is among numerous suits that have been filed across the nation against private prison transport companies that allege negligence and abuse.
“There are little to no regulations on their operations,” Mr. Conaboy said in an email. “ The treatment of Mr. Richardson and the others in the custody of the transport officers is unspeakable. They were forced to live a real life nightmare for the amusement of the officers.”
Prison Transport Services claims to be the largest private inmate transport service in the nation. An Internet search revealed the company has faced several lawsuits in other states, including one filed by a Texas woman who claims she was improperly shackled and denied water.
Other transport companies have also been sued. The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado sued TransCor America of Tennessee in 1999 on behalf of a woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted by a guard. TransCor America also faces a pending classing action lawsuit filed in California that alleges prisoners were forced to ride in vans for 24 hours continuously without being provided overnight rest in a bed.
It could not be determined how long Pike County has used Prison Transport Services or how much the firm charges to transport inmates. The Times-Tribune sought a copy of the company’s contract under the state’s Right to Know Act, but the county had not responded as of Thursday.
Lackawanna County has utilized Prison Transport Services to transport inmates since 2008, said Sheriff Mark McAndrew. Mr. McAndrew said he’s never had any complaints about the firm’s service.
In Mr. Richardson’s case, he claims he did not go to the bathroom for six days and did not eat anything for four days as he was being transported from Florida to Pike County from June 5 through June 15, 2013. He was arrested in Florida on May 29 after he was stopped for a traffic violation and the officer learned of a warrant issued in 2009 after he failed to meet his probation officer and pay a $250 probation fee.
Mr. Richardson said he was held in a van so small that there was no room to allow him to move his legs. His legs began to deteriorate due to a lack of circulation, leaving him unable to walk or stand, the suit says.
At some point Mr. Richardson and other inmates were taken to a county jail to sleep overnight. Mr. Richardson was switched to another van because the bus he was in was too large to navigate through New York City. An unidentified sergeant told him “May God have mercy on you. That’s going to be a ride from hell’” and proceeded to urinate on Mr. Richardson, the suit says.
Mr. Conaboy said Mr. Richardson continues to suffer from physical and psychological injuries.
“The horrors that he experienced have profoundly impacted him. We anticipate that he will continue to require medical care indefinitely into the future,” he said.
In addition to the transport company, the lawsuit names Pike County Commissioners Richard Caridi, Matthew Osterberg and Karl Wagner as defendants as well as Craig Lowe, warden at the Pike County Correctional Facility, and two assistant wardens, Jonathan Romance and Robert McLaughlin.
Mr. Osterberg declined to comment on the lawsuit. Attempts to reach the other commissioners and attorney Tom Farley, solicitor for Pike County, for comment were unsuccessful.