Fayette DA investigating possible excessive use of force against inmate
3 officers placed on paid leave during investigation
The Fayette County district attorney’s office is investigating whether corrections officers at the county jail used excessive force in restraining an inmate who ended up having to go to the hospital for his injuries.
District Attorney Mike Aubele said he doesn’t believe the investigation into whether three officers used excessive force last Thursday will be “extremely long,” and the probe could wrap up later this week or next week. The three officers have since been placed on paid administrative leave.
At issue is whether the officers used too much force when Robert Stimmell, 37, was brought to the jail by Uniontown police after he was arrested on a bench warrant for making terroristic threats and harassment. Aubele said Stimmell was “certainly combative” when he arrived at the jail and had made threats that he was “not going to cooperate” when he was arrested.
Stimmell was allegedly beaten by the officers in a part of the jail that is used for strip searches, so there is not a camera there. After the incident, he was taken to Uniontown Hospital and then transferred to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., for treatment of a brain bleed and injuries to his head and face. Stimmell was released from the hospital Monday and taken back to the jail.
Stimmell is set to appear before Magisterial District Judge Ronald J. Haggerty Jr. next Monday on the charges he is facing.