‘Irritated’ officer punched inmate in face, and co-worker helped cover it up, feds say

A correctional officer became increasingly “irritated” with an inmate, then beat him bloody as the handcuffed man made no attempts to resist or fight back, according to court documents.

His fellow officer, David Quillen, showed up with a camera and started filming the injured inmate after he heard about Samuel Warren’s use of force at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover, Maryland, in July 2021, federal prosecutors said.

As Quillen recorded him, the inmate, who had blood on his face, explained Warren assaulted him “for no reason,” according to prosecutors. The man also cried while Quillen filmed, they said.

When Quillen and other officers watched the video, a supervisory officer “commented that the video did not look good for Warren” and indicated it should be erased, prosecutors said.

Quillen deleted the footage to try to cover up evidence of Warren’s unlawful use of force against the inmate, prosecutors said. He also agreed to lie about deleting the video, according to prosecutors.

Now, Quillen, a 37-year-old resident of Ocean View, Delaware, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to obstruct justice and one count of destruction of records, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland announced in a Feb. 22 news release.

McClatchy News contacted his defense attorney, Seth Russell Okin, for comment on Feb. 23 and didn’t receive an immediate response.

Warren has pleaded guilty in connection with the inmate’s assault, the attorney’s office said.

He agreed to plead guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of falsification of records, according to his plea agreement filed Sept. 28.

Information regarding his legal representation wasn’t listed in court records.

Inmate is repeatedly punched in face and head

On July 12, 2021, Warren became “irritated” with the inmate, who was identified only as “K.K.,” because he was “wearing a face mask … that was hanging below his nose,” according to his plea agreement. He had a mask on due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the time, K.K. was about to begin a shift as an inmate observation aid, a job often designated to inmates with “excellent disciplinary records,” the plea agreement says.

Warren heard the inmate comment “that either (Warren) or his interaction (with him) had been ‘crazy,’” according to the court filing.

This statement irritated Warren more, and he retaliated against the inmate by making him undergo a strip search, the plea agreement says.

Then, the inmate, Warren and two other officers headed to a room where strip searches are conducted, and the inmate faced the door as part of protocol, according to the plea agreement.

There, the inmate turned to face the officers and lewdly commented that they wouldn’t be able to see his genital area if he was turned away from them, the plea agreement says.

When he repeated the comment, Warren told him he lost his job, according to the plea agreement.

“Despite making inappropriate comments, K.K. did not pose a threat of harm or escape,” the filing says.

As the inmate began to disrobe for the strip search, Warren told him that they were going to do a “monitored strip search” instead — involving “handcuffing (him) and escorting him to a cell where correctional officers would disrobe him,” the plea agreement says

Warren handcuffed K.K. behind his back and escorted him to the cell, then the inmate “pulled away” and broke Warren’s “grip on his arm,” according to the plea agreement.

That’s when Warren threw the inmate to the ground and repeatedly punched him in the face and head, five or six times, the court filing says.

Even though the inmate broke Warren’s grip, he “did not pose a threat of harm or escape, and there was no justification to use force against him,” according to the plea agreement.

As a nurse treated the inmate in a hallway afterward, Quillen arrived and filmed, Quillen’s plea agreement says.

Later, when the officers watched Quillen’s video, Warren agreed that the footage should be deleted after the supervisory officer said it “did not look good” for him, according to prosecutors.

“Quillen lied about what happened to the video, including to supervisors at ECI and to state and federal investigators,” the attorney’s office said.

The office didn’t name the other officers accused of agreeing to lie about the deletion of the video.

Quillen is out on release ahead of his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for May 22, court records show.

Until then, he must “avoid all contact” with the inmate and any potential witnesses in the case, according to a court filing.

He faces up to five years in prison on the count of conspiring to obstruct justice and up to 20 years in prison on the count of destruction of records, prosecutors said.

Warren is scheduled to be sentenced April 16, court records show.

McClatchy News contacted the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services for comment on Feb. 23 and didn’t receive an immediate response.

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