A man who alleged in a federal lawsuit that he was severely beaten by Camden County Sheriff’s deputies while jailed in 2021 settled his case for $500,000, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
A federal judge dismissed the suit officially on Monday, after approval of a settlement for the plaintiff, Adam Drummond. The half-million dollar settlement represents the latest financial repercussion from deputy misconduct at the agency. Over the summer, the county of 57,000 people was dropped by its insurer and had to replace its coverage due to excessive claims stemming from jail violence and replacing wrecked police cruisers.
The Camden County NAACP responded to the settlement with a statement that calls for an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
“The problematic conduct of the Camden County Sheriff’s corrections officers and deputies has been an ongoing occurrence, and these issues will only change when there is more accountability,” said Timothy Bessent, Sr., president of the Camden County branch of the NAACP.
The agency has attracted the attention of national civil rights lawyers and national media over the past year for high-profile incidents of police violence. The latest incident from Oct.16 involved a white Camden sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed a Black man from Florida, Leonard Cure, during a traffic stop and struggle with the officer. Cure was recently exonerated after spending 16 years in a Florida prison for a crime he maintained he didn’t commit.
Over the past year, five Camden deputies were indicted for allegations of beating inmates in jail caught on video, while another was indicted for slamming a woman’s head into a police cruiser, according to dash cam footage, during a routine traffic stop.
A federal civil rights lawsuit brought on behalf of the family of LaToya James, a woman shot and killed by Camden deputies in May 2021 during a botched drug raid targeting her cousin, is still underway.
Settlement amounts in lawsuits are often kept secret by confidentiality agreements, which is why the sources requested anonymity on Drummond’s settlement. Camden County can disclose via its insurer how much it paid out for lawsuit settlements, but Human Resources and Risk Management Director Mike Spiers did not respond to a request for information on Tuesday.
While the county’s insurer paid the $500,000 settlement, Camden County taxpayers are footing the bill for the higher premiums and deductibles under the new coverage for auto and law enforcement liability, according to a June 30 Board of Commissioners’ meeting when the new $2 million insurance policy was approved:
- Under its previous coverage, Camden taxpayers did not pay any deductible (the minimum amount paid for by the insured before insurance coverage kicks in) for auto liability. Under the new policy, that number was boosted to $350,000 before insurance kicks in.
- For law enforcement liability, taxpayers were previously responsible for a $25,000 deductible. Now they have to pay $250,000 per claim before insurance covers the costs.
Sheriff Jim Proctor did not respond to requests for comment.
Accusations of excessive force, coverup
On Jan. 24, 2021, Adam Drummond, then a resident of Camden County, was charged by Kingsland Police officers for driving under the influence, according to his lawsuit complaint. He was taken to the Camden County Detention Center at around 1 a.m.
The complaint states Drummond did not answer questions during the intake process, but was not aggressive or combative.
He was then taken into a room with no cameras by three deputies and strip searched. They then “beat him in the head and face, as well as shoulders and torso,” the lawsuit alleged.
“Following the incident, Mr. Drummond’s blood pooled on the floor,” so much so that the room had to be mopped. He was then placed in a restraint chair but was not given medical attention, the suit stated.
He was taken to the jail nurse in the morning and shortly thereafter posted bond.
A day later, the deputies’ immediate supervisor investigated the use-of-force incident, found it to be against sheriff’s office policies, and sent her investigation to her supervisors, Lt. Eric Watson and former Maj. Rob Mastroianni, Sr.
Mastroianni, who ran the jail before his resignation in July 2023, ordered no action would be taken against the deputies and destroyed, altered or hid the original write-ups, the lawsuit alleges.
“Defendant Mastroianni was motivated to cover-up the incident to protect his career, including rank promotions and financial salary raises, and avoid civil liability to Mr. Drummond,” it said. The jail chief then edited and changed the original narrative reports by the deputies, it claimed.
Lawyers for the sheriff, Mastroianni, and the deputies argued they were protected by these claims due to qualified immunity, a court doctrine that shields the actions of government employees during the course of their work. They also said that Drummond’s team “attempts to conflate an alleged policy violation with a federal constitutional violation,” according to a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
The deputy who conducted the use-of-force investigation, former Staff Sgt. Jennie Sikes, swore in an affidavit that Mastroianni covered up the incident to avoid wrongdoing and the incident reports by the deputies were altered, according to court documents filed by Drummond’s lawyer in November 2022.
On Mar. 20, 2023, U.S. District Judge Lisa G. Wood of the Southern District of Georgia largely ruled in favor of Drummond.
She ruled that the deputies were not protected by qualified immunity for the strip search and for failing to get Drummond medical attention.
Wood found there were not enough facts to support a legal “conspiracy” by the deputies to block access to records but wrote “it is reasonable to infer an agreement between these officers to conceal the facts of the underlying Fourth Amendment violations.” Wood also found enough evidence for a Georgia Open Records Act violation by the Sheriff’s office.
Six months after the ruling, the parties began settlement negotiations.
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