HARRISBURG, Pa. — Attorneys for the family of an inmate who died in Dauphin County Prison in 2021 announced they have reached a $5 million settlement with the county and a healthcare company.
Ishmail Thompson, 29, died in a restraint chair at the prison. He had been doused with pepper spray, constrained by his wrists and ankles, and had a hood placed over his head prior to his death, according to a press release issued by Kline & Specter, PC, who represented Thompson's mother in the case.
Kline & Specter claim the $5 million settlement is "one of the largest in a civil rights death case in Pennsylvania."
Dauphin County Prison will pay $4.25 million, while PrimeCare Medical Inc., of Harrisburg, will pay $750,000.
PrimeCare Medical had a contract with the prison "but provided substandard medical attention to (Thompson) on the day of his death, the attorneys said.
The incident began after Thompson was arrested for trespassing, simple assault, lewdness and harassment when, police charged, he began exhibiting symptoms of a mental health episode at a Comfort Inn in Middletown.
"Due to these apparent symptoms of mental impairment, Lower Swatara Township police reported upon his arrest that Thompson had 'a mental health issue,' citing 'his mannerisms,'" the attorneys said.
Also, Thompson, while in a holding cell, removed all his clothes, according to the attorneys.
Later, Thompson was taken to a shower area by corrections officers, but five seconds after turning on the water he was sprayed with oleoresin capsicum, also known as pepper spray, his family's lawyers said. Then he was wrestled to the ground, handcuffed and shackled and a “spit hood”, a fabric hood used to prevent a suspect from spitting or biting, was placed over his head.
"Corrections officers then struck him repeatedly in the stomach and legs while he lay on the ground," according to his family's attorneys. "Body camera footage confirmed that Thompson never threatened the officers nor became physically violent prior to this unprovoked attack."
The attorneys claim corrections officers ignored his appeals for water and claims that he couldn't breath, placing him in a restraint chair.
At that point, a nurse came to see Thompson, "but conducted only a cursory examination that lasted about one minute," the attorneys said. "
"She never spoke with Thompson, never took his blood pressure and measured his temperature through the hood," according to the attorneys.
Less than 15 minutes after being placed in the restraint chair, Thompson was found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest. He was later diagnosed with severe anoxic brain injury, which caused an irreversible coma. He died on July 29, 2021, six days after his arrest.
"All this occurred despite the fact it was known by the defendants that two other inmates at the prison had died under similar circumstances, one in 2011 after he was pepper sprayed and restrained and another in 2019 after the inmate was sprayed with OC and officers attempted to place him in a restraint chair," Kline & Specter said in its press release.
“Dauphin County Prison and PrimeCare Medical ignored Mr. Thompson’s pleas for help. Had they listened, Mr. Thompson would be alive.” Shanin Specter and Philip Pasquarello, of Kline & Specter, PC, who represent Joyce Thompson, the victim’s mother, said in a statement.
