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| Inmates charged in jail attack |
| By The Ledger |
| Published: 04/21/2004 |
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Four men accused of beating a fellow inmate in the county jail who had been arrested on a hate crime charge were charged Tuesday with aggravated battery, the Polk County (Fla.) Sheriff's Office reported. A Sheriff's Office official also said the attack had prompted the agency to change its policy on housing inmates accused of hate crimes. The agency already separated inmates accused of certain crimes -- such as sex crimes -- from the general population. Col. Willie Hall, who oversees the Polk County Jail, said that after the March attack of inmate Shane Desalvo, sheriff's officials decided to include hate crimes in that list. Prior to the Desalvo attack, Hall said, there was no policy in place that would automatically put inmates facing hate crime charges in a separate facility. "We just decided since we don't get that many (hate crime arrests) . . . it's easier to add it to the policy," Hall said. In 2003, the Sheriff's Office reported investigating two hate crime cases. There are about five felony cases each year that have a hate crime enhancement in Polk County, said State Attorney's Office Executive Director Sam Cardinale. Desalvo, who is white, reported being attacked by multiple inmates March 29 while in the jail. Arrest reports released Tuesday say inmates Anthony Q. Raines, Maurice D. Spann, Richard Reginald Green, and Jerry Lee Hopkins attacked Desalvo after reading about his arrest in a newspaper. Desalvo, of Eaton Park, was arrested March 19 on a hate crime charge when he used racist remarks as he threatened his black neighbors with a hammer and knife, sheriff's deputies reported earlier. He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon as a hate crime and resisting arrest. Desalvo said late Tuesday he could not comment until he speaks with his lawyers, but added, "I want my name cleared." He continues to undergo doctor's treatment in the wake of the beating, he said. Raines, 39, Spann, 26, Green, 23, and Hopkins, 22, are accused of kicking and punching Desalvo repeatedly, the arrest reports said. One of the men used a razor blade that was stuck in the end of a toothbrush handle and cut Desalvo in the leg, the report said. Desalvo was taken to the jail infirmary, the report said, and after posting bail March 31, he went to Bartow Memorial Hospital for follow-up treatment. Hall said investigators are conducting an internal investigation to see if security policies failed when Desalvo was attacked. There are no video cameras where Desalvo was attacked, which was in a sleeping cell that is unlocked and open during the day. The beating occurred at about 10:30 p.m. |
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