Former inmate sues Somerset County Jail for alleged excessive force
SOMERVILLE - A former Somerset County Jail inmate has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that he was the victim of excessive force by jail officers on the day he was released.
Samuel Dyal, 19, of West Windsor, filed the suit earlier this month against Somerset County, the Somerset County Sheriff's Office and employees of the Sheriff's Office.
Somerset County does not comment on pending litigation, said county spokesperson Nathan Rudy.
On Aug. 21, 2021, Dyal, who had been an inmate for about three months, was scheduled to be released after a Superior Court judge sentenced him to time served and three years probation on a theft charge, according to the lawsuit.
Dyal had originally been charged with armed robbery, unlawful possession of a handgun, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and luring in connection with a Jan. 17, 2021 incident in Montgomery.
After a virtual court appearance which was ordered released, Dyal was placed back in his pod at the jail and was waiting to be processed so his mother could take him home, the lawsuit says.
But the release was "inexplicably delayed for an assortment of trivial reasons" because, the lawsuit alleges, "certain jail staff members were upset" that his release had been ordered.
As he was waiting to be released with his mother waiting outside, Dyal waited in his pod, sitting on a table.
At that point, two jail officers "came rushing" into the pod. Dyal told them his chest was hurting and he needed medical attention.
Instead, the lawsuit alleges, the officers grabbed his arms, lifted him off the table and "slammed him face first onto the concrete floor."
Dyal was then handcuffed and taken to the jail nurse. Dyal, the lawsuit says, "recalls having to spit out teeth and blacking out for a second."
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About two hours later, Dyal was released and he arrived at his mother's car "with his face bloody, abrasions and three broken upper teeth," according to the lawsuit, which also contends that he had a concussion.
The lawsuit charges that the the actions of the two jail officers was "objectively unreasonable under the circumstances" because Dyal had posed no risk to them.
The officers' use of force was "conscience shocking, wholly arbitrary and capricious" in violation of Dyal's due process rights in the Constitution's 14 Amendment, the lawsuit charges.
Somerset County has yet to file a response to the lawsuit.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Former inmate sues Somerset County Jail for alleged excessive force
