Inmate dragged backward across cell floor by a rope sues Washington state sheriff’s office

A Black jail inmate who was slammed into bunkbeds, thrown facedown and then dragged backward across the concrete floor by a rope clipped to his handcuffed wrists is suing a Washington state sheriff’s office.

The lawsuit in federal court alleges deputies used excessive force during the 2021 encounter in the Clark County Jail, which was captured on three security cameras and left prisoner O’Neal Payne with what it described as cuts, bruises and emotional distress.

“Dragging a handcuffed Black man around the jail floor with a rope is inhumane and a vile abuse of power,” Payne’s lawyer Alicia LeDuc Montgomery said in a statement about the suit, which was filed last month in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Washington. “This lawsuit aims to shine a light on these cruel practices and demand accountability.”

The Clark County manager’s office — which assumed oversight of the jail from the sheriff’s office in 2023 — does not comment on pending litigation, spokesperson Joni McAnally, said in an email Monday.

At the time, then-Sheriff Chuck Atkins said his administration took the use of excessive force “very seriously and it will not be tolerated.”

“I viewed the video and was very troubled by what I observed,” Atkins said in a 2022 press release. He placed the most aggressive deputy, Robert Hanks, on administrative leave and asked prosecutors to look at the case for possible charges, followed by an internal affairs investigation.

The Vancouver City Attorney’s office declined to file charges and Hanks returned to work, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported in 2023. The sheriff’s office did not respond to emails asking whether Hanks faced any discipline or if he was available to comment on the civil rights lawsuit.

Payne, who was in custody on a commercial sex abuse charge, was being housed in the jail’s maximum-security unit due to his history of being uncooperative, according to the internal affairs report. He was listed as requiring a 3-to-1 deputy ratio due to his previous behavior. He subsequently was convicted in the case.

When deputies came in to collect meal containers, Payne was standing in the middle of the cell with his hands cuffed behind his back, according to audio-free security camera video. He took small steps backward and then stood passively as a deputy appeared to repeatedly point for him to move back.

Hanks lunged past the other deputy and pushed Payne into the bunkbeds, up against a wall and then back into the bunkbeds, face-first on the frame of the upper bunk this time, according to the suit. The three deputies then took him to the floor, face-down, footage showed.

Two other deputies brought in a red rope, the video shows. They attached one end to Payne’s handcuffs and ran the other through the slot in the door — the food port — and all of the deputies left the cell. As Payne started to get up off the floor, they yanked the rope, jerking him backward toward the door, and pulled his arms through the slot up to the armpits.

They then unclipped the rope and cuffs and left him alone. Payne was not offered medical care, the lawsuit said.

The sheriff’s office referred the case to the county prosecutor in March 2022, and the county referred it to the city attorney’s office because the allegation was a gross misdemeanor, according to Anna Klein, chief criminal deputy prosecuting attorney. The city attorney’s office did not file charges, saying it found insufficient evidence of a crime.

The sheriff’s internal affairs division found that department reports of the incident “lacked detail and did not appear to accurately reflect the amount of force seen in the video.” It also said the force appeared excessive and possibly criminal.

Martha Bellisle, The Associated Press