KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) A federal lawsuit has been filed against the county and two members of the sheriff’s office by one of seven Kalamazoo County Jail inmates who were left unattended in a transport van for nearly two hours in May 2025.
The suit filed in the Western District of Michigan by 43-year-old Christopher Harvey claims the treatment amounted to torture.
On May 12, Harvey and six other men were driven from the Kalamazoo County Jail to the county courthouse for hearings. According to the lawsuit, the inmates were left handcuffed and shackled in the van for two hours as punishment by the deputy assigned to transport them. Outside temperatures were in the 80’s
The inmates eventually got out of the van after one was able to break open a window.
At the time, the sheriff’s office said the men were left unattended while staff responded to an unrelated medical emergency.
During the investigation, six staffers were placed on administrative leave, but four had returned to duty within three days of the incident. By the end of May, an unnamed deputy had been fired and a sergeant was demoted.
Following the incident, jail officials put new protocols in place requiring inmates to be unloaded in the jail receiving garage instead of the transport garage.
Comments