By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Lewis County paid a former inmate $300,000 not to sue the county, its jail or any of its employees for mistreatment he suffered while incarcerated.
The then-24-year-old Centralia man was housed at the facility in January of last year, described as a person with mental health issues who was being held in the medical observation area.
[1]Wellington M. Waggener
An entire three-ounce can of pepper spray was discharged into his cell to get him to give back keys he’d grabbed off a guard through the cuff port, and then he was left to suffer for more than five hours without being given any kind of relief – such as water or decontamination.
There was no running water in the cell at the time, having been shut off the day before due to his attempt to flood the cell.
Then-Sheriff Steve Mansfield called the incident disgusting and embarrassing for the sheriff’s office, after he fired the corrections sergeant he held responsible for what happened.
Undersheriff Wes Rethwill today said the settlement was handled not by the sheriff’s office, but by the Lewis County risk manager.
“Obviously this is an incident that took place involving an employee, that employee is no longer here,” Rethwill said. “The sheriff at the time took appropriate action.”
The sheriff’s office operates the jail. Mansfield was replaced by newly elected Sheriff Rob Snaza in January. Rethwill is new to office as well.
Lewis County RIsk Manager Paulette Young said a lawyer representing the county and a lawyer representing the inmate reached an agreement with the help of a mediator.
“We thought that would be the best way to settle the claim without going to a lawsuit,” Young said. “If Mr. Waggener had sued us, it would be a civil rights violation in federal court.”
The check was written on June 2, and delivered to the former inmate’s attorney, she said.
Wellington M. Waggener was in the jail because he’d been arrested by Centralia police after he returned to a downtown business he’d been barred from, and then allegedly fought with officers who attempted to detain him.
Now 26 years old, Waggener is being held once again at the Lewis County Jail. The Centralia man was booked on Friday night in connection with an incident a local motel for which he has been charged with a felony.
Then yesterday morning, he allegedly threatened to kill two jail guards.
He was charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with two counts of felony harassment.
The 6-foot 9-inch tall former Centralia College basketball player was handcuffed and shackled at his waist and ankles as many defendants often are.
As his bail hearing came to a close he threw himself over the half wall that separates the public seating area from the front portion of the courtroom.
The four corrections officers already present were on him fairly quickly.
“Oops, I slipped,” Waggener said, as he lay partially on the first bench, with his lower half of his body still on the proper side of the wall.
Trena Krause, who was seated in the courtroom waiting for another matter, heard someone holler, get back, and jumped and walked over the benches to get to the rear of the room.
“The way he was acing, I completely figured he was on drugs, or mental,” Krause said. “I think he was just making an as* out of himself.”
Waggener stayed limp as the guards dragged him off the bench and out of the courtroom, back down to the jail.
Temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke had been about to tell the judge Waggener would qualify for a court appointed attorney, when Judge Richard Brosey suggested she inquire about his assets, in particular if he’d received a settlement to the tune of $300,000 from the county.
Centralia attorney Don Blair was appointed already for his other case.
Judge Brosey said the matter could be discussed further tomorrow, at Waggener’s arraignment.
The $300,000 check was paid by Washington County’s Risk Pool, Lewis County’s insurer.
It was made out to the law firm representing him, in trust for Waggener.
Young said today Waggener never filed a lawsuit or a tort claim, regarding his treatment at the jail last year.
The family’s attorney made a public disclosure request for the documents about the incident, she said.
“We knew where that was going,” she said. “We had an attorney, we went to mediation.”
Lawyers on both sides mutually reached out to each other, she said.
The agreement, signed May 22, means Waggener would release all claims against the county and it’s employees, among those named, Jail Chief Kevin Hanson and former Corrections Sgt. Trevor S. Smith.
•••
For background, read:
• “Sheriff’s Office: Fired corrections officer allowed inmates to suffer” from Friday July 18, 2014, here [2]
• “Centralia man jailed after woman tells of waking up to stranger in her motel room bed” from Tuesday July 14, 2015, here [3]
[4]Corrections officers grab Wellington M. Waggener as he lay on the first bench behind the defendant’s table in Lewis County Superior Court today.
•
[5]Waggener remains limp as corrections officers move him out of the public seating area of the courtroom.
•
[6]Waggener is dragged out of Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey’s courtroom this afternoon.