By Brian Bowling
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
GREENSBURG, Pa. — Allegheny County Jail staff ignored signs that a group of six inmates was routinely attacking and terrorizing other inmates on Pod 6D in 2013, a former inmate claims in a federal lawsuit filed Monday.
Charles Gifford says in the lawsuit that the group lured him to Cell 110, tied him up and beat him for more than a hour on Aug. 4, 2013.
Gifford is suing the county, Warden Orlando Harper, Deputy Warden Laytoya Warren, two correctional officers who aren’t fully identified in the lawsuit and the six inmates. County spokeswoman Amie Downs declined comment.
An Allegheny County police investigation of Gifford’s injuries confirmed that video shows him entering the cell, followed by several other inmates, and that none of the guards investigated why so many inmates were congregating in a single cell, said Gifford’s attorney, Steven Barth.
A guard passed by the cell at least twice during the attack but didn’t investigate why a towel was covering the viewport into the cell, he said.
“I’m hoping that they didn’t know about this attack,” Barth said.
An increase in inmate grievances and complaints from the pod in the two months before the attack should have alerted jail staff to the problem, he said.
“They also should have known or did know there were issues going on with that pod,” Barth said.