Sedgwick County to pay $190,000 to former inmate after 2020 assault in courthouse
A former Sedgwick County Jail inmate will receive a $190,000 settlement from the county after he was shoved against a wall and struck in the head by a detention deputy while the inmate was handcuffed, according to officials and court records.
The County Commission approved the settlement on Wednesday after a January 2020 incident in a holding cell at the courthouse involving 41-year-old Chantry Moon, who was an inmate at the jail, and then-detention Deputy Matthew Stineman.
“We commend Sedgwick County for the decision to agree to settle Mr. Moon’s claims of serious injury after he asserted he was unjustifiably attacked by a deputy while under restraint,” Moon’s attorney, Todd Johnson, said in an email.
Stineman was hired in February 2007 and remains employed as a deputy. He is currently assigned to administrative duties in the records department of the Sheriff’s Office pending the outcome of a criminal case, spokesperson Lt. Benjamin Blick said.
Stineman has been charged with misdemeanor mistreatment of a confined person in Sedgwick County District Court, court records show. Court records don’t indicate Stineman’s next hearing. His attorney did not immediately respond to a call from The Eagle.
The incident happened on Jan. 30, 2020. Sheriff Easter said during a 2020 news conference that Moon was in a holding cell at the courthouse awaiting a hearing that day.
Moon began rubbing his handcuffs against the wall. Court records said Moon was asked to stop by a deputy and he replied, “What?”
Stineman then had the deputy open the door and went into the cell and “aggressively rushed toward Moon, punched him in the chest, slammed him against the wall and struck Moon in the head as he held him against the wall,” according to a complaint filed in district court.
Still pinned against the wall, Stineman told Moon “you understand that now don’t you (expletive),” the complaint said.
Two deputies witnessed the incident. One of the deputies reported Stineman to a jail supervisor, court records show.
Stineman was charged in February 2020 with mistreatment of a confined person.