PORTLAND – A corrections officer at the Cumberland County Jail has been suspended without pay and charged with assaulting an inmate in an altercation last month.
Sheriff Kevin Joyce held a news conference Friday to describe the charge against Nicholas Stein, 41, who has worked at the jail for 11 years. Stein is charged with one count of misdemeanor assault.
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The alleged victim, a 29-year-old man who was in jail for failing to appear in court to pay fines, jumped off the second-floor railing in the short-term holding section of the jail on June 17. He landed on his feet but collapsed from injuring his legs, Joyce said.
Stein handcuffed the inmate, then allegedly dragged him to the door of the pod, Joyce said.
While waiting for the pod door to open, Stein allegedly punched the inmate in the face, then dragged him the rest of the way to the jail’s medical unit, Joyce said.
Security cameras in the jail recorded Stein dragging the inmate but not punching him, Joyce said.
He said statements from witnesses in the pod support the complaint, which was issued by prosecutors Thursday.
Stein’s lawyer, Michael Cunniff, issued a statement in which Stein denies the allegations and says he was pulling the inmate to the medical unit in an effort to get him swift treatment before he was taken to the hospital.
The statement did not address the punch specifically but said inmates sometimes make false accusations that are supported by other inmates as a way to retaliate against officers.
Stein has had previous disciplinary problems within the past five years, Joyce said, including punching a hole in a wall in the administrative section of the jail and kicking a copy machine.
Joyce said being a corrections officer is a challenging job and officers do have to protect themselves at times, “but if somebody is not fighting them or threatening them, they need to be treated with respect … When I saw the dragging (video) it shocked my conscience.”
Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:
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