PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gultieri held a press conference regarding the termination of five employees of the Department of Detention and Corrections.
The first employee terminated was Deputy Hardwick. Sheriff Gultieri said Hardwick worked in the healthcare division of the Pinellas County Jail. He served food to the inmates in single cells there.
On Aug. 11, one inmate finished his food and stuck his arms through the food trap. PCSO said Hardwick told the inmate to stop, and when he wasn't cooperative, he got a can of Lysol from his bag and sprayed it at the inmate. Since the inmate was kneeling with his arms through the space in the door, Hardwick sprayed him in the face.
When the Lysol did not get the inmate to comply, PCSO said Hardwick then hit the inmate on his hands with the can of Lysol.
Sheriff Gultieri said Hardwick claimed he had used water on the inmate and fabricated an entire story surrounding the events. When the story was proven false, Deputy Hardwick was terminated. The inmate was not injured.
In an unrelated incident, on May 15, an internal investigation began after PCSO received a complaint from a former inmate who alleged that when she was in custody, a supervisor and several deputies entered her cell and showed her a printed photo of her butt.
According to PCSO, the woman was concerned the image had or would be passed around the jail and posted on social media. Unfortunately, her suspicions were already true.
When the woman arrived at the jail for booking, they were backed up in processing, so a prisoner transport officer kept the woman in his van until they had the capacity to bring her in.
Three hours later, while she was still in the van, her pants came off. The transport officer notified the jail staff. Two female deputies went to the van and dressed the woman in jail uniform pants to escort her into the booking area.
Deputies told PCSO the woman was uncooperative at the time of her booking, but video evidence shows she was intoxicated but cooperative. Jail staff handcuffed the woman behind her back and placed her in her cell.
Authorities said the woman's cell did not have a toilet, so she walked to a drain in the middle of the floor in her cell and began to pee. PCSO said deputies watched the video of the woman, and one of the deputies used her personal cell phone to photograph and video of the woman while she was exposed.
Sheriff Gultieri said the jail staff also made derogatory remarks about her genitals and offered to send copies of the photos.
In total, four corrections officers were terminated in relation to this incident.
This is a developing story. Tampa Bay 28 will provide more details as they become available.
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