MIAMI — A group of Florida Department of Corrections officers were behind bars facing charges on Thursday in Miami-Dade County after an investigation into an inmate’s battery in Florida City, records show.
Miami-Dade correctional deputies booked the group of seven FDOC officers at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center near Doral after Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Lody Jean issued the arrest warrants on Monday, county records show.
The FDOC correctional officers are Lt. Shentrica Clark, Capt. Jochen Anglin, Officer Jordy Calero, Sgt. Travon Norman, Sgt. D’Andre Hill, Sgt. Richard Jackson, and Sgt. Freddie Morgan, according to the judge’s arrest warrants in the case.
Clark, 40, a supervisor assigned to the Dade Correctional Institution’s Transitional Care Unit, ordered correctional officers to escort Christopher Castro, an inmate, to her office at about 9:30 p.m. on April 5, according to the arrest warrants in the case.
Two correctional officers reported they placed Castro in handcuffs and escorted him to an area outside of Clark’s office where they left him with Anglin, 32; Calero, 23; Norman, 29; Morgan, 35; Jackson, and Hill, according to records on the cases.
Castro was resisting when Calero, Norman, Jackson, Hill, and Morgan picked him up, threw him into the cell, and then kicked and punched him several times in his face, head, back, and arms, as he remained in handcuffs, according to the arrest warrants.
“Several witnesses observed that the victim had significant facial bruising, bleeding, and scratches,” an FDOC detective wrote in a request for an arrest warrant, records show.
On April 6, after the correctional officers’ change of shift, Clark reported Castro “tried to stab a corrections officer in the recreational yard” and was “seeking medical attention because he wanted to get out of his cell,” according to an arrest warrant.
Clark’s colleague later saw “visible injuries” on Castro’s face and blood on his shirt and ordered her subordinates to photograph him and escort him from the cell to the medical unit, records show.
Clark then reported Castro had been “rowdy” and was suspected of weapons possession, but officers searched him and he was unarmed before he saw a nurse for a headache and refused medication, records show. After reviewing evidence, records show Clark’s colleague concluded her report was “egregiously false.”
Suspecting there was a coverup, a FDOC detective reported someone “attempted to clean blood from the holding cell, so the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office crime scene unit responded to collect DNA for analysis, records show. Investigators later reported Clark ”ordered an inmate to clean the cell soon after" the beating, records show.
Court records show prosecutors filed cases on Monday, and Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Aglin, Norman, Hill, and Calero on Wednesday.
Clark faced charges of tampering with physical evidence, a third-degree felony, and failure to report known or suspected unlawful abuse by a state corrections department employee on an inmate, a first-degree misdemeanor. Her bond was $5,500. Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Richard Hersch was presiding over the case.
Anglin faced charges of perjury not in an official proceeding, a first-degree misdemeanor, and failure to report known or suspected unlawful abuse by a state corrections department employee on an inmate, a first-degree misdemeanor.
Calero, Norman, Hill, Jackson, and Morgan faced charges of perjury not in an official proceeding, a first-degree misdemeanor; failure to report known or suspected unlawful abuse by a state corrections department employee on an inmate, a first-degree misdemeanor; and use of force or battery on a detainee, a first-degree misdemeanor.
Miami-Dade County Circuit Judges Julie Harris Nelson and Marcus Bach Armas were presiding over the cases.
A spokesperson for the FDOC released a statement on Thursday afternoon saying, “All of these staff members were dismissed as quickly as administratively possible.”
This is a developing story. The mug for Jackson was not yet available. Local 10 News Assignment Editor Mariana Ortiz contributed to this report.
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