A Massachusetts Department of Correction sergeant and an officer were fired last week for allegedly beating up an inmate because the inmate stole the sergeant's cup of coffee at the Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center in Bridgewater, a department spokeswoman said yesterday.
In addition, another sergeant accused of lying about the incident was demoted, suspended without pay for 30 days, and transferred to another facility, said spokeswoman Kelly Nantel.
Correction Commissioner Kathleen M. Dennehy, who publicly pledged to take a zero-tolerance approach to assaults by correction officers on inmates, has fired three officers and demoted six others in connection with assaults since assuming office in March.
Officials at the Department of Correction and the union said in interviews last month that they could not cite any instances of a correction officer being fired or seriously disciplined for assaulting an inmate before Dennehy took over the top job.
The prisoner who said he was assaulted admitted taking a cup of coffee that belonged to the sergeant, Nantel said. The guards allegedly took the prisoner to a shower area and beat him, leaving him with a bruised and swollen eye. He also complained of injuries to his ribs and a finger, she said.
Nantel said the prisoner received medical treatment and a medical staff member accompanied him while he complained to another sergeant, Nantel said. But that sergeant did not report the beating to his supervisors and later filed a false report on the beating, Nantel said.