NEW CASTLE, Ind. — The Henry County sheriff is standing behind his actions to shoot a jail inmate with less-lethal bean bag rounds after the inmate refused to stop kicking the door of his isolation cell.
Sheriff John Sproles said people need to see more than the video of the incident and know the history with the inmate at the jail to understand the sheriff’s decision.
Marquette Neal was in the Henry County Jail July 6 on a probation violation for possession of methamphetamine. Corrections officers moved him to an isolation cell that day for not complying with orders, including refusing to turn in a second blanket in his cell. Sproles said Neal also had tampered with and possibly damaged the television in his cell block.
Though Sproles said he had never personally encountered Neal until July 6, the sheriff said he knew of Neal because of previous threats against jail staff by the 6 foot, 4 inch, 250-pound inmate. Sproles said corrections officers had also been injured in incidents with Neal.
Sproles said his staff made it clear to him that for some time, Neal wanted to fight with jailers. The sheriff said he sent messages back to the inmate that there would be no hands-on confrontation, but they would gain compliance, if necessary, by firing bean bag rounds.
When Neal was locked in the isolation cell, he started kicking the door. That’s when the sheriff was called to the scene, wearing a helmet and carrying the less-lethal shotgun with bean bag rounds.
13News obtained three videos of the incident, two angles from jail surveillance cameras and a third from a corrections officer body camera.
"You kick the door again and you're going to get some rounds, OK?” Sproles is heard on video telling Neal through the cell door window.
Neal kept kicking. The sheriff kept firing less-lethal bean bag rounds.
“Alright. We got some more rounds because we'll go all night,” Sproles said as Neal kept kicking.
"I didn't intend that to be an escalating statement,” Sproles said in an interview in his office Friday morning. “I intended that to be a deescalating statement of, ‘Look, you keep doing what we said not to do, this is the way that we are going to gain compliance.'"
"That don't bother me, that don't bother me,” Neal says in the video after being hit by multiple bean bag rounds.
“Kick it again, you'll get another one,” Sproles replied.
Sproles said he used the bean bag shots to prevent Neal from hurting himself with the kicks.
"I will ensure the safety of our staff, and I want to ensure the safety of our inmates,” Sproles said. “There are reasons that we have tools to gain compliance. It's so we do not get officers hurt."
Sproles shot Neal four times with bean bags, hitting both legs. The inmate stopped kicking after he started bleeding heavily. He was taken to a hospital and needed stitches in both legs for his wounds.
After the incident, Neal was transferred to a state prison because of safety concerns. His next court hearing in Henry County is scheduled for Oct. 19.