A federal civil lawsuit by a former Westmoreland County Prison inmate who was assaulted by a guard last year claims incident reports filed by a dozen other jail staffers contained no mention of the beating.
The lawsuit was amended June 15 and asserts that the omission of the assault of former inmate James Mapp, 34, of Roswell, N.M., in reports reveals “a corrupt culture” at the Hempfield facility and an attempted cover-up.
The lawsuit was filed by Mapp a year ago in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh against former county corrections officer James B. Lynn, 39, of Ligonier Township, who was fired within three weeks of the assault.
After reviewing documents connected to the beating and a jail security video, Mapp amended his lawsuit to include eight more guards and the county as defendants. He is seeking in excess of $225,000 in damages.
“I can tell you I was shocked, stunned and appalled there was not a word about the assault in any of the individual reports,” said Mapp’s attorney, John F. Mizner. “But for Manor police Chief George Valmassoni … none of this would have been known. That man had the character and integrity to come forward and report it to the district attorney’s office. … Nobody else did. I believe nobody would have reported it.”
Lynn pleaded guilty to official oppression and simple assault Oct. 28. He was sentenced to two years of probation.
County Commissioner Doug Chew, chairman of the county prison board, said Wednesday he was not aware of the amended complaint or the allegations made in it.
“But we can’t really comment on these type of lawsuits in the early stages,” Chew said.
County solicitor Melissa Guiddy said the county does not comment on pending litigation.
Mizner said the number of defendants was expanded after a review of the statements connected with the beating and viewing of the jail video, “which captured the barbaric pounding of Mr. Mapp while he was restrained in handcuffs and a waist belt.”
In addition to Lynn, the amended lawsuit added as defendants Lt. Richard Sikora, Sgt. Shawna Ravetto, Sgt. Bradon Gelet and corrections officers Josh King, Dan Murphy, Jeffrey McCreary and Nikki Cramer. A ninth defendant is listed in the complaint only as “Wright.”
While reviewing the individual reports on the beating, the lawsuit claims “corrections officers and prison leadership covered up the unprovoked pummeling of Mr. Mapp by filing false reports that do not say a word about the ferocious attack on a defenseless Mr. Mapp.”
The amended 23-page complaint claims the omission of any mention of the assault by Lynn “was merely a symptom of the corrupt culture at the Westmoreland County Prison.”
Jail officials said a second guard was suspended after the incident but was not criminally charged.
The lawsuit claims Mapp has been afflicted with mental illness his entire life and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when he was 17.
Mapp was arrested April 30, 2020, by Manor police for allegedly breaking into the home of a former girlfriend on Observer Street, according to the lawsuit. It was the second time that week police were called to the home.
The lawsuit contends Mapp was compliant during his arrest and at his arraignment before Rostraver District Judge Charles Christner, who ordered him jailed on $50,000 bond.
When he arrived at the jail, staffers approached the handcuffed Mapp with a protective mask he was required to wear because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the lawsuit. Mapp resisted, according to court documents.
“In his manic state, Mapp felt that the mask represented the covid-19 coronavirus and believed it symbolized the illness,” the federal lawsuit states.
Several other jail staffers, including Lynn, entered the booking room, where Mapp was ordered to kneel on a bench so officers could remove his handcuffs and restraint belt.
“Mapp responded that he wouldn’t kneel for any man, only for God,” the lawsuit states, drawing from the criminal complaint filed by county detective Ray Dupilka.
Several guards tackled Mapp to the floor, where he was assaulted by Lynn and an unnamed second guard, the lawsuit contends. He was treated at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg.
Mapp pleaded guilty in November to criminal mischief and was given credit for time served. He returned to New Mexico, where he resides.
“James is doing fine now but still has a problem with his neck. He suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome as a result of this,” Mizner said.
He added that Mapp reviewed the security video of the beating this year after it was released as part of the ongoing court case.
“It was very difficult for him,” Mizner said. “He had managed to put that out of his mind, and it was not easy for him to watch it.”
Original Article By: Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@triblive.com or via Twitter .