The Daily Times

An inmate in the Blount County Detention Facility has filed a lawsuit against the county, claiming officers did not come to his aid when he needed immediate medical attention.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, Rudolph M. Brooks Jr., 62, claimed on Christmas Day last year he informed one of the jail’s emergency communications officers that he needed to get to the hospital immediately because his heart rate was rising.

He said he suffers from supraventricular atrial tachycardia, which is a cardiac condition that causes the elevation of the heart rate.

After he asked for assistance, Brooks claims the officer laughed at him, saying, “It’s Christmas, and you’re (expletive).”

As Brooks continued to have chest pains, he claimed the officer said if he died, he wouldn’t hurt anymore. He went back and forth with the officer for one hour until he was told to go into the jail’s day room and sit down.

The lawsuit also states that after two hours, another officer came and asked Brooks what was wrong, and he told them he was having heart problems. He was immediately escorted to the jail’s medical ward, and three hours later, a nurse that was on call finally took him to the hospital for treatment.

Four days later, Brooks claimed an officer told him to come out of his cell or he would “grab his (rear end) and jerk it out.” Brooks came back into the day room and thought he was going to have a visit with his lawyer, but he alleges the same emergency communications officer who refused to help him came with shackles in his hand, slapped him in the face and swung the shackles at him.

Brooks added that as he tried to defend himself, three other officers and a maintenance man jumped in and restrained him. As a result, he was placed in solitary confinement.

Pain from incident

He claims he is in constant pain from being slammed into the ground and tried to have a disciplinary hearing to present evidence that he was attacked, but could not do so since he was in solitary confinement.

Brooks is asking for $250,000 in punitive damages and mental anguish. He said he will produce witnesses to prove his case and has requested counsel.

Officials with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office said they were not aware of any wrongdoing from any of its officers or any lawsuit and would not comment on any potential litigation.

Brooks was convicted last year on four counts of Schedule II drug possession with the intent to deliver. Records showed that Brooks filed a lawsuit against Blount County in August last year for unsanitary jail conditions. The case was dismissed in November.

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