The sheriff said the deputy battered an inmate and lied about it to investigators.

PINELLAS COUNTY – A detention deputy lost his job Monday (June 20) after he injured a jail inmate and lied about it to investigators, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

Matthew Stanfield, 26, was fired for the March 22 incident. He had worked for the Pinellas sheriff since Oct. 17, 2011. Deputies said they are also conducting a criminal investigation and a misdemeanor charge of battery will be referred to the state attorney’s office.

Stanfield was conducting checks in an inmate housing unit at the Pinellas County jail on March 22 when he found graffiti written on the wall of a cell, deputies said. The graffiti was derogatory in nature towards law enforcement.

Administrative investigation division investigators said that an inmate inside the cell accepted responsibility for the graffiti. They said Stanfield angrily instructed the inmate to meet him in an area of the jail that was obscured from video monitoring. The inmate followed Stanfield to a cell that was occupied by four other inmates. Investigators said that Stanfield ordered the four inmates out of the video obstructed cell and directed them to a location where their view was obstructed. Stanfield remained in the unmonitored cell with the inmate for about three minutes.

According to the inmate, when he entered the cell with Stanfield, the deputy threatened him with his electronic control weapon. Stanfield informed the inmate that they were going to “grapple” and charged the inmate, grabbing his leg, lifting him off the ground, knocking him backward into a concrete wall, and then to the floor. Investigators say that the inmate suffered non-life threatening injuries to his arm and his back, and was treated by jail medical staff.

Investigators say that Stanfield failed to prepare an incident report, use of force report, or inmate disciplinary report for the inmate’s alleged writing of the graffiti. Stanfield also provided false factual statements about the incident when questioned by his chain of command and the administrative investigation division.

Pinellas Sheriff | Deputy Fired | Pinellas County Jail  | Matthew Stanfield | TB Reporter

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