By C1 Staff
PORTLAND, Maine — A Cumberland County corrections officer is appealing a one-year suspension he was given after surveillance video showed him dragging an injured inmate 127 feet across a concrete floor.
According to the Press Herald, Nicolas Stein claims he went into shock after seeing inmate Brian Cote jump from the top rail of a second-floor deck at the jail and break both ankles. He described himself as “in shock and fear” as he rushed Cote to the jail medical unit.
The Board of Trustees ordered his certificate suspended after concluding that he had assaulted cote.
The justices questioned Stein’s fitness as a CO if he did indeed go into shock as he claimed; Stein has 12 years of experience as a CO.
Stein’s actions in the video are described in Superior Court Justice Thomas Warren’s decision affirming the suspension: “He saw Cote lying on the floor screaming in pain and knew Cote was injured… There is also no dispute that Stein then handcuffed Cote and dragged Cote by the shirt collar, with Cote’s injured feet dragging along behind, for a distance of 127 feet to the medical unit.”
Stein has some emergency medical training, and one justice noted that he should have known better than to drag someone who might have had back injuries.
Stein was originally terminated from his job for six months in connection with the incident, but was reinstated and has continued to work at the jail.
Cote has filed a lawsuit against Stein, other corrections personnel and the jail over the incident.
A decision on the appeal is pending.