By Payne Ray
Daily Commercial
CLERMONT, Fla. — Correctional officers at Lake Correctional Institution may have killed a man, according to a statement released by the prison Friday.
An investigation into excessive use of force was opened by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at the end of the week after a man died in the hospital while being treated for injuries allegedly inflicted on him by officers on Thursday.
“On Thursday, June 18, an isolated incident occurred involving a use of force at Lake Correctional Institution,” the Florida Department of Corrections wrote in a statement emailed to media. “As a result of the incident, the inmate involved died on June 19.”
The department refused to name the inmate killed or the hospital treating him, and no details were provided as to what “use of force” meant in this case.
Florida law prohibits the names of involved officers being released during the ongoing investigation, the Department of Corrections said, but the officers involved were placed on administrative leave.
“Secretary (Mark) Inch and his entire leadership team will be cooperating fully with the FDLE investigation as it proceeds,” The FDC Communications Director Michelle Glady said. “As soon as the incident took place, the warden called for an investigation by outside law enforcement and placed the officers on administrative leave. If misconduct occurred, those responsible will be held fully accountable for their actions. FDC will not tolerate the malicious application of the use of force.”
According to the statement by the FDC, all their correctional officers are trained on “proper implementation of the use of force rule and procedure and are certified in defensive tactics and de-escalation techniques.”
Though the Florida Department of Corrections described the incident as “isolated,” there have been at least two cases of alleged excessive force used by officers within the past year.
In July 2019, four officers were arrested and fired after cell phone video surfaced which depicted several officers beating an inmate. Capt. Milton Gass and officers Hunter Lingo, Ian Gretka and Joshua Petersilge were arrested in the month following.
In April, two correctional officers at the facility turned themselves in after they were accused in February of beating a handcuffed inmate who allegedly brought contraband into the facility when returning from a work detail. The alleged beating reportedly left the man with a collapsed lung and multiple broken ribs.
According to the probable cause affidavit, one of the officers, Sergeant Cole Dorman, appeared to use a technique “often used in order to invoke a reaction to justify physical force:" he allegedly acted as though he were going to hit the man in order to make him flinch, then justified his force by saying the inmate became aggressive.
Neither of those cases resulted in an inmate’s death.
Since 2014, 30 inmates have died in the prison, including two others in 2020. One of those other inmates reportedly died of natural causes. The other, who died in early April, is still under the investigation of a medical examiner.
“Any employee found to have acted inappropriately or illegally faces disciplinary action up to and including dismissal and arrest,” the FDC said in it’s statement. “FDC has zero tolerance for staff who act inappropriately and contrary to our core values: respect, integrity, courage, selfless service and compassion.”
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©2020 Daily Commercial, Leesburg, Fla.