Former Butler County Prison inmate sues over 2022 attack
A former Butler County Prison inmate is suing the prison, corrections officers and former inmates after he claims he was assaulted two years ago over a haircut sign-up sheet.
The lawsuit filed Monday, June 24, by Kristoffer Ion, 32, through attorneys at The Lindsay Lawfirm alleges he was kicked in the head 70 times by Michael Reinhart, 49, Keith Reges, 37, and others, and that a computer malfunction prevented corrections officers from stopping the four-minute attack.
Reinhart and Reges were charged and sentenced for the attack, which took place June 25, 2022, and was seen on surveillance footage.
The suit names Butler County, the prison, the prison board, Warden Beau Sneddon, three corrections officers, two prison medical professionals, Reges, Reinhart and former inmate Ron Doctor as defendants.
Ion is seeking a jury trial and an unspecified amount of relief due to the continuous health problems suffered from the attack, the lawsuit states.
According to the suit, Ion was placed in Butler County Prison in April 2022 and became known for cutting other inmates’ hair. Inmates interested in a haircut would sign up for an appointment with him on a sheet of paper, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit states an attack on Ion was prompted when the “haircut sign-up list” was thrown away on June 24, 2022, and when a new list was created, the order of the inmates’ haircuts was changed from the original.
The suit indicates Reinhart was particularly upset about the change of order and confronted a corrections officer about it.
According to the suit, the officer told Reinhart he did not care about the change and to “take care of it himself.”
The suit claims Reinhart said he would take care of it and “lock this whole (redacted) POD down.” After conversing with three other inmates, including Reges, Reinhart led them to where Ion was cutting hair, the suit said.
According to the suit, Ion was struck in the back of the head and fell to the floor, where he was kicked repeatedly by the inmates.
A corrections officer opened the multipurpose room door and sprayed pepper spray, the suit claims, but then shut the door again.
The door would not open for other officers due to a computer malfunction, according to the suit, and the attack on Ion lasted four minutes.
The suit indicates Butler County Prison “had constant issues with the computer system, needing to reboot the entire system to open doors.”
The suit says Ion lost consciousness due to the attacks and later had no recollection of being taken to the hospital. It notes that he refused medical treatment and that, three days later, Ion was released back into the prison’s general population.
According to the suit, Ion suffers from continued migraines, light sensitivity, confusion, short- and long-term memory loss, scars and PTSD due to the attack.
The suit claims Ion’s civil rights were violated when he did not receive “prompt, proper and adequate medical attention and treatment.” In addition, it claims the defendants showed “deliberate indifference” to his safety.
According to documents, Ion is now in a state correctional institution in Pine Grove.
In May 2023, Reinhart was sentenced to six to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aggravated assault. His address in the suit is listed as the state correctional institution in Huntingdon.
In November 2023, Reges was sentenced to serve three to seven years in prison for his role in the assaults. His address in the suit is listed as the state correctional institution in Fayette.
