Elyria man files $40 million federal lawsuit against Lorain County Jail, Elyria police, LifeCare (VIDEO)

CLEVELAND — An Elyria man who allegedly suffered a spinal injury while being booked at the Lorain County Jail in May filed a $40 million lawsuit against county and city of Elyria employees in federal court in Cleveland on Tuesday. During a news conference at their offices in Cleveland on Tuesday, attorneys with the law firm Spangenberg, Shibley and Liber said Jeffrey Fry, 58, has a spinal injury that is going to require lifelong care. Fry also suffers from chronic pain and only 20 percent use of his arms after attorneys said he was "brutalized" at the Lorain County Jail last year. Corrections Officer Brian Tellier "put Jeff face-first into a wall," attorney Nick DiCello said, then dragged him across concrete and mishandled Fry while putting him on a stretcher to be taken to University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center on May 12, 2023. The alleged abuse left Fry with a permanent spinal cord injury, his attorneys said. Fry is living in a nursing home. Though he can walk and feed himself, he needs help getting dressed and is in constant pain, he said during a news conference with DiCello and attorney Jeremy Tor on Tuesday. The lawsuit names Lorain County Sheriff Phil Stammitti, Tellier and nine other Lorain County Jail corrections officers, three jail medical workers, the Elyria Police Department and Officer Ali Sabeiha, LifeCare Ambulance Inc. and two of its employees as defendants. The 28-page lawsuit alleges violations of Fry's civil rights, excessive force, medical negligence, deliberate indifference, failure to properly train staff at the jail, assault and battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Fry said his injuries mean he isn't "able to do what I used to do," and is still upset and depressed. He looked away and began to cry as his attorneys played a short video showing what happened to him in the jail. Fry said he couldn't watch the video "because I couldn't believe it could be done to anybody." DiCello said "more than one corrections officer and jail staff" mistreated Fry during his booking on a misdemeanor warrant. No one from the sheriff's office has ever interviewed Fry about what he experienced, his attorney said. The FBI also is investigating Fry's treatment in the jail, according to the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office. Chief Assistant Prosecutor Dan Petticord, legal counsel for the sheriff's office, said Tuesday he hadn't seen the lawsuit and couldn't comment on it. Elyria Law Director Amanda Deery said Tuesday that she was aware the suit had been filed, hadn't had a chance to look at it and its "very serious allegations," and had no other comment. "Civil lawsuits against Lorain County and (its) employees are none of our business," David Edwards, Lorain County Corrections Union director, said on Tuesday. He declined further comment. The Chronicle contacted LifeCare for comment through its attorney. Allegations and statements Sabeiha took Fry to the Lorain County Jail after arresting him on a warrant shortly after 7:30 p.m. May 12. Video taken inside the jail that day showed Tellier walking Fry, handcuffed, to a body scanner to look for contraband. What happened next, Fry's attorneys said, is Tellier threw their client into a wall, injuring his neck, knocking him unconscious and causing him to lose control of his legs. DiCello said Tellier "hip-checked" his client into a wall, fracturing bones in his back and damaging Fry's spine and leaving him briefly unconscious. Another corrections officer helped Tellier pick up Fry, but then placed him on his head on a concrete floor. He called Fry's treatment "blatant and outrageous," and said Tellier lied about it in a use-of-force report, and is "indicative of the kind of culture" that exists among jail staff. DiCello said jail staff could be seen laughing about the situation on the video, a short clip of which he played for the media on Tuesday. Stammitti previously said Tellier didn't intentionally hurt Fry and didn't have malicious intent. The video showed corrections officers carrying Fry into a nearby vestibule to wait for medical treatment, where jail medical staff were waiting. Fry couldn't control his head or neck and was bleeding from the mouth at the time, DiCello said. When LifeCare staff arrived to transport Fry to the hospital, Tellier and others picked him up and put him on the stretcher. DiCello said no attempt was made to immobilize Fry's neck or back and that he was too roughly handled, possibly making his injuries worse. One of Tellier's supervisors, Sgt. Jennifer Jones, signed off on Tellier's report of the incident, finding that Tellier's use of force on Fry was appropriate. Jones "adopted this fictional version of events," DiCello said, questioning whether she ever viewed the video showing how Tellier treated his client. Jones also is named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Jones later changed her view of Tellier's use of force after watching video of the incident, according to an internal investigation by corrections Lt. Mike Crum. In his account, obtained by The Chronicle-Telegram as part of a public records request, Tellier wrote that Fry pulled away from him as he led Fry to the body scanner. Fearing that Fry might escape out a broken set of doors and a broken gate onto Murray Ridge Road, Tellier said he put his hands on Fry's shoulders, told him not to pull away and tried to put Fry up against the wall. "Due to Fry's inebriated and unstable state, Fry fell from his stable platform prior to reaching the wall and was guided to the floor," Tellier wrote. "With the unexpected and unplaced move from his stable position, Fry's head fell against where the floor met the wall." Crum's investigation found Tellier violated rules against falsifying records and physically mistreating prisoners in custody. He wrote in his report that the force Tellier used was "inappropriate and excessive." Corrections Sgt. David Kish, who has 15 years experience in self-defense and use of force instruction, agreed with Crum in a separate report. Fry was mishandled when LifeCare arrived, and the way he was placed on the stretcher "should not have occurred if there was a suspected head or neck injury," Crum wrote. Fry's lawsuit says he was thrown "violently" onto the gurney. Officer's behavior 'outrageous' To call Tellier's behavior a "reasonable response" is "outrageous," DiCello said. DiCello said Sabeiha witnessed Tellier's alleged mistreatment of Fry but did nothing. "None of us would dare do something like that to any individual under any circumstances in any setting, and yet this is being done on an average day at the Lorain County Jail, while on videotape," DiCello said. "What's even more shocking than the use of force — which is an easy call in this case, that is by definition excessive force — but what's even more shocking in this case is there are witnesses including an Elyria police officer who witnessed this occur to his own arrestee, for whom he is responsible," he said. Sabeiha "watched that occur, he never intervened, and he covered for another incompetent law enforcement officer in violation of his oath to protect Jeff's constitutional rights," DiCello said. DiCello said his law firm will "shine a light on excessive force and pursue accountability for those who failed Jeff and violated his rights." DiCello said Tellier still has a job but no longer has contact with any prisoners. Tellier is the son-in-law of Lorain County Jail Administrator James Gordon. "The bigger problem is that we cannot expect the problems we have between law enforcement and our community to improve when we have officers who are willing to violate their oath to protect the rights of arrestees in places like jail just to cover for an incompetent law enforcement officer like Brian Tellier, who should not be in corrections and I expect will no longer be in corrections for law enforcement because he doesn't belong there and he can't be trusted," he said. Supervisors and law enforcement leadership should also do the right thing, DiCello said, praising the "good people" who alerted the public and authorities to Fry's treatment. Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson said last year that he only learned about what happened to Fry after a sheriff's office employee approached his office, worried about a cover-up. He handed over documents and evidence to the FBI, and Stammitti also handed over evidence after receiving subpoenas, the men said. Multiple lawsuits At least three other federal lawsuits against the jail and jail staff are making their way through federal court in Cleveland. Lisa Phillips of Carlisle Township sued in July 2023 saying the jail, jail staff and Elyria police violated her constitutional rights and mistreated her at the jail in 2021. Luis Angel Alvarez Roman of Franklin County sued in December 2023 after he was allegedly misidentified and arrested by Lorain police and jailed as a suspect in a home invasion and rape in Lorain in late 2022. Charles Koch Jr. sued earlier this month, claiming he was beaten and abused by corrections officer Ruben Ortiz while being transferred out of the jail for mental health treatment in August 2023. Ortiz was charged with assault and lying to investigators about the incident. Stammitti later fired him. Stammitti is not running for reelection this year. Rick Thomas and Rich Resendez are the Democratic candidates, and Jack Hall is the Republican candidate in the March 19 primary. Petticord is a Democratic candidate for Lorain County Common Pleas judge. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.