LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- It was a single punch caught on body camera video. Janelle Stark's son Terry Whitehead was handcuffed when Metro Corrections officer David Schwartz lands a strong right arm to his face.
"Nothing could prepare me for what I saw on that video," Starks said.
Terry was confronted by officers Schwartz and Devan Edwards after putting up tissue in the window of his jail cell as he was using the bathroom. He was pepper-sprayed and handcuffed before Schwartz threw the punch.
Terry's attorney, Sam Aguiar, says Schwartz was known to have a combative temper. "Officer Schwartz was known around the jail for telling everyone that he had an undefeated 19 and 0 mixed martial arts record and when he put on the gloves, he would tell the inmates, they were f****** b****** and it was game-time," Aguiar explained.
Schwartz and Edwards were fired nine days after the April incident, but the video didn't become public until last week. Aguiar believes there's more, convincing unreleased video. that led to the firing of Edwards.
Terry's family isn't satisfied with just their firings. They filed suit against the officers and want criminal charges brought against them. "I don't know any other place that you can go to work at and clock in and put on your uniform, (and) fight people," Starks told WHAS11.
Aguiar hopes the incident creates changes within Metro Corrections, including installing cameras in holding cells and holding witnesses accountable who see physical violence and don't report it.
"We don't see why this type of reform can't happen tomorrow and we hope the unfortunate practice and pattern of requesting reform and getting silence from metro ends here and they step up," Aguiar said.
In response to the incident, Metro Corrections spokesperson Steve Durham had this to say:
Metro employs a thorough screening process to include psychological evaluation, a polygraph, fitness for duty review before a candidate is offered a chance to be invited to Corrections 9 week training academy. The training academy focus is on best practices for all aspects of managing inmates with substance abuse challenges, mental health challenges, with a substantial preemployment focus on crisis intervention, de-escalation and defensive tactics. And the training continues each year thereafter during a corrections officer’s career.
For those reasons we have achieved accreditation from the American Corrections Association.
And we handled this use of force incident just right. When the incident came to light we immediately fired the individuals involved and asked for a criminal investigation. Every day we examine incidents that occurred the day before to see where we can improve. That is a best practice. We promote performance improvement and will listen and evaluate what other have to say.
Former Officer Schwartz and Edwards did not expose a system weakness. They exposed their own failure.
►Contact reporter Robert Bradfield at rbradfield@whas11.com. Follow him on Twitter (@RobertBreports) and Facebook.