Mentally ill inmate sues Rio Grande County jail after he gouged out his own eye

Gordon Sawyers burned down an art gallery to rid it of witches, ranted about hearing voices from God and dipped his toothbrush in a used toilet before brushing his teeth.

Yet correctional officers at the Rio Grande County Jail did not monitor Sawyers for three hours while he was in a suicide-prevention cell gouging his eye out of its socket, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Denver U.S. District Court.

Now Sawyers is suing Rio Grande County, Sheriff Brian Norton, and jailers for failing to adequately protect him from himself, according to the civil lawsuit filed by his attorneys, Jeffrey Hill of Colorado Springs and Maren Chaloupka of Scottsbluff, Neb.

Sawyers, 66, is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for physical and mental pain and suffering. He is also suing as a result of his new disability, blindness in his right eye, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit accuses Norton of failing to properly train staff to recognize and respond to a mentally ill inmate and did not adequately staff the jail.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/2016/12/02/ill-inmate-sues-jailer-after-he-gouged-out-his-own-eye/