Westmoreland County Prison guard accused of assaulting handcuffed, shackled inmate

For the second time this year, a Westmoreland County prison guard has been charged after allegedly assaulting a handcuffed and shackled prisoner in the Hempfield lockup.

Rodney Walters, 53, was arraigned Friday on charges of official oppression and simple assault filed by county detectives after a two-month investigation into the alleged Aug. 7 incident. Walters, who lives in Fayette County, was released on $50,000 unsecured bond pending a preliminary hearing Oct. 30 before District Judge Mark Mansour.

Prison Warden John Walton said Monday he could not comment on Walter’s arrest or the incident, saying “it’s still in litigation and remains under investigation.”

Walton did say Walters is suspended without pay.

Walters is accused of assaulting inmate Emmanuel O. Fayemi, 22, who has lived in Scottdale and Greensburg, according to court documents.

Fayemi was in the county jail after being sentenced in June to serve 119 days to 23 months for retail theft in Greensburg. Fayemi is now in the Washington County Jail, where he is serving a term after his July guilty plea for possession of a controlled substance in Washington, according to court records.

Detective James Williams filed the complaint against Walters after interviewing other prisoners who witnessed the alleged assault and Walters’ co-workers, and reviewing a video recording.

Walters, who could not be reached for comment, denied the assault when recently interviewed by Williams. He said he was defending himself after being threatened by Fayemi, who also resisted when he was restrained.

A handcuffed and shackled Fayemi was being escorted to his prison cell about 2:25 p.m. Aug. 7 after making a phone call when the incident occurred, according to court documents.

Williams said Fayemi began climbing the stairs to return to his unit without permission and was told to return to the base of the stairs so Walters could remove the shackles. As Walters began removing the shackles, witnesses said Fayemi began screaming at Walters and threatened to kick him, court papers said.

Walters told Williams he had to restrain Fayemi.

However, another inmate who was also returning from making a call, told investigators that Walters “had been nitpicking with Fayemi” during the walk to and from making the telephone call.

When Fayemi verbally responded on the return to his cell, “(Walters) grabbed him by his collar and threw him face first into the floor,” the inmate told Williams.

Fayemi said Walters continued to assault him as he was restrained on the floor, according to court documents.

A second inmate, who also was there, told Williams he beleived Walters assaulted and choked Fayemi.

“Walters assaulted Fayemi for a good 5-6 minutes” and then two other corrections officers came and assisted, the inmate told Williams.

“I feel this is not right and something needs to be done,” the inmate told Williams.

In an interview, Williams reported Fayemi corroborated the two other inmates’ versions and complained Walters grabbed him by the throat and kept choking him.

When two other corrections officers arrived, Fayemi told Williams that Walters unsuccessfully attempted to turn him over on his stomach and raised his fist toward him.

Fayemi was then escorted to his cell, where he received in-house medical attention, court papers said.

In an interview with Williams, Walters said Fayemi threatened to kick him as he was removing his shackles and he took him to the ground in self defense.

“Walters told me he was stabbed 16 times when he worked in a state prison, and he wasn’t going to be wait to be kicked,” Williams wrote in court documents.

Williams said the video shows Walters attempting to remove Fayemi’s shackles “and then violently throwing the inmate to the floor.”

“It shows Walters sitting on the victim with his hand on the victim’s throat and the other hand in a fist as if he was (ready) to punch the victim’s head,” Williams wrote.

Williams said the video showed Walters “struggling with Fayemi for three minutes” before other corrections officers arrived.

According to court papers, Fayemi told Walters, “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”

“Walters just choked me harder and told me to shut up,” Fayemi told Williams.

An attorney for Walters was not listed in court documents.

Walters earned $48,360 annually and was hired as a county prison guard Feb. 11, 2019, according to records in the county controllers office.

On April 30, another prison guard, Jeremy B. Lynn, 38, of Ligonier Township, was accused of assaulting inmate James Mapp, 33, of Roswell, N.M., while the handcuffed Mapp was being booked into the prison. Mapp required treatment at Excela Health Westmoreland hospital in Greensburg.

Lynn, who was fired after detectives filed charges in that case, is awaiting trial on charges official oppression and simple assault.