Sheriff apologizes for deputies’ comments about inmate OD
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts has criticized “callous comments” that three of his deputies made on cellphone videos while an inmate was in a padded jail cell and flailing around uncontrollably from a drug overdose.
Roberts also apologized to the inmate’s family in his statement, now nearly two years after the encounter.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports he said two of the deputies were disciplined and the third who took the videos resigned. The sheriff didn’t describe the type of discipline.
The sheriff released two videos a day after The Oregonian/OregonLive made a public records request for them and wrote about a wrongful death lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Portland by the inmate’s mother and estate.
The suit referenced the videos showing inmate Bryan Perry as he was locked in a padded cell at Clackamas County Jail after his probation violation arrest on Nov. 3, 2016. Perry later died.
“Look what I got for show-and-tell today,” Deputy Ricky Paurus says on one video. He suggests they could put Perry in a cage and wheel him into a school to impress on kids not to do drugs, the suit says.
Deputy Lacey Sandquist calls the idea “fantastic.” At one point, Sandquist suggests Perry could be “the new DARE,” referencing a drug resistance education officer for students.
