JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The attorney for the family of an inmate who was critically injured in an unspecified incident involving nine Duval County jail officers said on Wednesday that the man remains hospitalized and on a ventilator.
In a statement to News4JAX, Attorney Belkis Plata identified the injured inmate as Charles Faggart, who’s the owner of a food truck and catering company.
On Tuesday, Sheriff T.K. Waters announced that eight correctional officers and a correctional sergeant were removed from their positions and stripped of all their correction authority following the incident, which happened on Monday morning.
Plata’s statement to News4JAX reads in part:
“The family is devastated and demands answers regarding how Charles sustained such catastrophic injuries while in the custody and under the supervision of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office — a place where he should have been kept safe...”
Waters said he would not give details about the incident or how the inmate was injured because it was still an open investigation.
With Tuesday’s news conference leaving many unanswered questions, News4JAX reached out to JSO on Wednesday, asking:
- What led to Faggart being critically injured? Was he assaulted? Was it a medical issue?
- When you’re able, can you release the names of the officers involved?
- Did cameras catch what happened?
However, JSO did not answer our inquiry due to the ongoing investigation.
News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst Tom Hackney said it is concerning to know so many corrections staff were removed from their position following this incident, and added that investigators have a lot to look into.
“There’s two different ways this investigation is going to go: one is a criminal investigation into any potential uses of force,” Hackney said. “If that’s the case, the state attorney will step in and investigate, and then an internal investigation happens.”
Hackney said that the investigation could take a long time.
Faggart’s attorney also told News4JAX that the incident placed an “overwhelming emotional and financial burden on the family.”
“Mr. Faggart is a father to a six-year-old son, Lincoln, who now faces the likelihood of growing up without a dad. The family has established a GoFundMe page to assist with mounting medical expenses and to provide support for Lincoln during this extremely difficult time,” Plata wrote.
Inmate records show Faggart was arrested for domestic assault and criminal mischief.
