AUSTIN, Texas — A new federal lawsuit has been filed against Williamson County.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges that five employees at the Williamson County Jail used excessive force against an inmate in October 2023.
The suit says that on Oct. 26, 2023, an inmate at the Williamson County Jail expressed confusion over a form he was supposed to sign and asked for clarity. The inmate claims in the suit that he has mental health disabilities and is hard of hearing.
He then claims he was surrounded by seven staffers who accused him of “refusing to cooperate.” The suit claims that the defendants decided to place him in an emergency restraint chair, despite the inmate claiming that he did not pose a danger to himself, any Williamson County jailer or anyone else at the jail.
After filling out the form, the inmate was then again placed in handcuffs to be taken to get his mugshot taken. The inmate claims that the jailers roughly pushed him and escorted him toward another part of the booking area and brought the emergency restraint chair with them.
The inmate claims that he asked why he was being pushed and accused of refusing to cooperate, and asked to speak to a supervisor, but was not given an answer.
The inmate then claims the defendants all gave him disputing instructions before one of them swept his leg causing him to fall to the ground. The defendants then all piled on top of him, which caused his leg to break in multiple places. The inmate claims they still made him walk to the restraining chair, despite his injury.
The inmate claims he was strapped to the chair for multiple hours, before being taken out of it in the middle of the night. He bonded out the following morning, where he went to the hospital and was diagnosed with a left posterior wall acetabular fracture or a broken hip.
The inmate is suing for compensatory damages, punitive damages against the five employees, attorneys’ fees including expert fees, costs of court and pre and post-judgment interest at the highest possible rate.
When asked for a statement on the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Williamson County told KVUE that they do not comment on pending litigation.