UNIONTOWN, Pa. — An inmate, Robert Stimmel, is now back at the Fayette County Jail after suffering a brain bleed during an alleged beating by three correctional officers.
“At the same time that we appreciate and honor the people that do that job, we also have an obligation to look out for the safety of the people that are being held in our facility,” Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele said.
A mugshot of Stimmel after being booked into the Fayette County Jail shows his face is visibly swollen and bruised.
Uniontown police picked him up after he didn’t show up to court on a misdemeanor charge.
Aubele said Stimmel was taken through a strip search during processing, which by law is done without cameras.
The bruises didn’t appear on his face until after he came out of that search.
“We are, of course, having an active investigation. Still trying to figure out what exactly happened in that area,” Aubele said.
The next day, three officers were placed on paid administrative leave and Stimmel was taken to a hospital.
Aubele said Stimmel is known to law enforcement.
“Me knowing personally about this individual, he’s approximately 5 foot, 6 inches and probably doesn’t weigh more than 100 pounds,” Aubele said. “He is pretty easily controlled, and my initial thought is it’s really hard for me to believe that it took much to control him when he was in that facility.”
Aubele is a former correctional officer himself and is now investigating what happened at the jail.
The question is now: will the officers be charged?
“Once we have a comprehensive picture between everything that we’ve reviewed and the information that we received from further interviews, yes, charges could be filed in this matter,” Aubele said.
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