(WSVN) - A South Florida inmate claims he was viciously attacked behind bars, and he says the people who beat him, are the ones paid to protect him. Rosh Lowe has his story in tonight’s edition of the Lowedown.
Alan Childress: “They just started grabbing me and throwing me to the ground, and started with the assault that you see on video. It was like a gang beating.”
But these weren’t gang members, these were corrections officers inside the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Facility in West Miami-Dade.
It was Nov. 28, 2014. Alan Childress was locked up on a battery charge.
Sara Shulevitz, attorney: “Under the Constitution of the United States, everyone is presumed innocent and deserves basic human rights.”
Childress looks like a rabbi, but he isn’t an angel. He has a history of misdemeanor arrests.
Alan Childress: “I haven’t had an easy life, but I grew up with a nice Jewish family. I always have had a strong belief in my higher power.”
He will stand trial on the battery charge in the upcoming weeks. Childress was at a friend’s house for dinner when he got into an argument with someone at the table.
Alan Childress: “It was ‘he said, he said’ type of disagreement. Nothing violent, no gun, no knives.”
Alan Childress’ attorney says this is not about her client’s criminal history or about the charges he is facing. This is about how he was treated once he was inside the jail. She only recently saw the video and was shocked.
Sara Schulevitz: “I was just horrified. On the video, you see my client not being aggressive, not touching any officer, and the next thing you know, he’s on the ground being kicked in the head by two female officers.”
You can see Childress in the red jumpsuit get into a conversation with a corrections officer.
Alan Childress: “They wanted me to go into a cell, and I asked her if I was gonna go into a cell by myself or with other people.”
Seconds later, he is taken to the ground. There are several officers trying to restrain him.
Now look at this: once he is on the ground, one kick, another kick, another kick and another, and then multiple kicks to the head.
Sara Shulevitz: “There’s no way officers should be able to use that disproportionate force for no reason, and there should be accountability.”
Take a look at the end of the video, even more officers are called.
Alan Childress: “Maybe over 40 officers came up and surrounded me.”
Surrounded and taken to a cell.
Childress says he was wheelchair bound after this incident, suffering a dislocated hip.
Alan Childress: “It hurt a lot and it was traumatizing to me and I don’t deserve that kind of treatment, nobody does.”
And Childress was the one charged — accused of battery on a law enforcement officer.
Alan Childress: “It shows in the video, I didn’t batter anyone. I was the one who’s been battered.”
Those charges were eventually dropped. But what remains is Childress’s outrage. He’s not done with this fight. We contacted Miami-Dade Corrections, who tell 7News, “In 2014, Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation initiated an internal investigation of the response-to-resistance incident involving inmate Childress. At the conclusion of the disciplinary process, the case was closed with a recommendation of supplementary documented training.”
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