On December 29th, 2017 at approximately 14:50 Hrs. I was notified by Detention Sgt. Wes Baucaum of a fight that occurred in D Pod of the Sumner County Jail . Sgt. Baucaum told me the two inmates involved were Jack Deaton and Dennis Thomas Jr. I went to the control booth at the jail so I could review the video of the fight.
On the video you can see both Deaton and Thomas sitting in the commons area of the D Pod. At 12:58 Hrs. I could see a short verbal exchange between Deaton and Thomas. Deaton walks to cell D4, which is assigned cell and begins making physical gestures that appear to aimed at Thomas, based on my experience the gestures indicated Deaton was either challenging or taunting Thomas. At 12:59 Hrs. Thomas walks into cell D4, this is not his assigned cell. At 12:59 Hrs. the video shows Deaton striking Thomas with his hands several times. Both inmates exit the cell. Deaton has his hand on Thomas in a manner that I interpreted as he was trying to keep Thomas away from him, then Deaton shoves Thomas away from him. Deaton re enters his cell and Thomas walks over the stair way in D Pod. …show more content…
Thomas re enters cell D4 and pulls the cell door closed but not to the point it locks. Deaton immediately pushes Thomas out of his cell. There is no further contact between Deaton and Thomas.
For the first part of my investigation I went to D Pod to interview the inmates. None of the inmates claimed to have witnessed the fight.
Next I had Deaton placed into holding cell number 2 so I could interview him. Once he was in the cell I scanned Deaton for signs of injuries, I saw no injuries to Deaton. At 15:18 Hrs. I read Deaton his constitutional rights. At the conclusion of reading them to Deaton said he understood his rights and said he did not want to speak with me about the fight. I had detention deputies return him to his housing
On the video you can see both Deaton and Thomas sitting in the commons area of the D Pod. At 12:58 Hrs. I could see a short verbal exchange between Deaton and Thomas. Deaton walks to cell D4, which is assigned cell and begins making physical gestures that appear to aimed at Thomas, based on my experience the gestures indicated Deaton was either challenging or taunting Thomas. At 12:59 Hrs. Thomas walks into cell D4, this is not his assigned cell. At 12:59 Hrs. the video shows Deaton striking Thomas with his hands several times. Both inmates exit the cell. Deaton has his hand on Thomas in a manner that I interpreted as he was trying to keep Thomas away from him, then Deaton shoves Thomas away from him. Deaton re enters his cell and Thomas walks over the stair way in D Pod. …show more content…
Thomas re enters cell D4 and pulls the cell door closed but not to the point it locks. Deaton immediately pushes Thomas out of his cell. There is no further contact between Deaton and Thomas.
For the first part of my investigation I went to D Pod to interview the inmates. None of the inmates claimed to have witnessed the fight.
Next I had Deaton placed into holding cell number 2 so I could interview him. Once he was in the cell I scanned Deaton for signs of injuries, I saw no injuries to Deaton. At 15:18 Hrs. I read Deaton his constitutional rights. At the conclusion of reading them to Deaton said he understood his rights and said he did not want to speak with me about the fight. I had detention deputies return him to his housing