October 26, 2016
Three corrections officers have surrendered to officials on charges related to an alleged beating of a handcuffed inmate in June and coverup of the incident, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.
Officers Milton Gibbs, Terrance Bailey and Shaun Lowe are charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, tampering with public records and other offenses, the district attorney's office announced Wednesday.
Gibbs is accused of pounding on an inmate's door at Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center and threatening him on June 21. Bailey is accused of joining Gibbs later, entering the cell and allegedly punching and kicking the victim.
The district attorney's office alleges the two officers then took the inmate in handcuffs down a staircase and continued to beat him. He was reportedly dragged to the prison's central control room after he was allegedly struck in the back of the head and fell to the ground. According to the district attorney's office, Lowe then allegedly joined in.
The inmate's name is not being released. The district attorney's office alleges that while cameras captured some surveillance footage, the officers also went to locations that they knew cameras could not see.
“We cannot stand for any kind of assault, and this attack on a handcuffed inmate by sworn corrections officers is egregious," District Attorney Seth Williams said in a news release. "Every inmate who is held in our prisons deserves to be treated with dignity and respect."
All three of the officers are being suspended without pay.
