Ex-Inmate Says Staff Attacked Him During Seizure

A former inmate says officers at Sangamon County Jail attacked him with peppery spray and a stun gun while he was suffering an epileptic seizure.

In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, Richard E. Haley Jr. says staff at the jail in Springfield knew he suffered from chronic epilepsy and provided him medical attention during previous seizures.

But the lawsuit says he was attacked during a seizure in March 2013. According to the complaint, Haley was unresponsive or unconscious during the seizure.

It alleges officers attacked him after Haley failed to respond to their orders to leave his cell. According to the suit, he was left handcuffed in a wheelchair.

A lawyer for the county told The (Springfield) State Journal-Registershe hadn't seen the lawsuit and could not comment.