Catherine Thompson was just starting her career as a law enforcement officer when she was not only fired earlier this week but charged and arrested for beating an inmate while she was shackled.
The 21-year-old female corrections officer was not only fired but also arrested and charged after she beat Kirenda Welch as she was shackled.
Thompson, 21, was still within her probationary period and had four months left of it when she was let go according to Jacksonville Sheriff Office press release.
The victim, Kirenda Welch, told News4Jax yesterday that she was arrested on June 29 for driving without a valid license and she is currently five weeks pregnant.
As Thompson was being searched at the jail, the two exchanged insults which lead to Thompson striking Welch in the face.
“The pants immediately started to itch me. Something was wrong with the pants. I told her, ‘These are old. They’re dirty, and they stink and I’m itching. I can’t put on the pants. I left the shirt on. Can you please give me another pair of pants?'” Welch said, according to the reports.
Welch, who was placed in a four-point shackle, also complained that the handcuffs were to tight, and that is when things escalated.
Welch said her complaint was met with racial slurs such as “Kunta Kinte.”
Kunta Kinte is the slave character from both the novel “Roots” and TV miniseries named after the book.
“She punched me dead in my forehead, right in the middle. Boom. I could not believe it,” Welch said. “I can’t believe she’s doing this. I’m shackled up. I’m on my back … She used both hands and banged my head into the concrete wall. I was like, ‘Oh my God. This is it. It’s happening.'” she told News4Jax.
In an attempt to defend herself, she fought back and that is when Thompson decided to mace Welch.
Thompson has been charged with both, misdemeanor battery and official misconduct, which is a felony, according to First Coast News.
Welch license was suspended due to an unpaid toll that she did not know about since it was sent to an old address.
Welch is planning on suing the department.
This is not the first time Jacksonville Sheriffs Department has made headlines this year.
In May, Officer Tim James attacked a 17-year-old boy in the back of a patrol car and Jeffrey Fraley was arrested in a Jacksonville Court House for live streaming himself within the courthouse..
