BUFFALO, N.Y. — Erie County Deputies will need to pay the family of Richard Metcalf, Jr. $5 million after a jury reached a verdict Thursday in a civil trial.
The Erie County Attorney confirms to 2 On Your Side that the jury awarded $1 million for each of the five deputies in punitive damages.
In November of 2012, Richard Metcalf Jr., 35, who was in custody on a burglary charge, began exhibiting extreme behavior according to deputies, who say he was biting off chunks of flesh from his own arms and feet and spitting them.
During a violent struggle to restrain him, deputies placed him in a spit mask. When he chewed through that, a pillowcase was over his head, according to the deputies.
Metcalf was eventually taken by ambulance to Erie County Medical Center where he died days later.
Although a report by the NYS Commission on Corrections produced a report which concluded that Metcalf's death was a homicide, prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges against the deputies.
Metcalf's father, Richard Metcalf Sr., then filed a civil suit naming the county, the sheriff's department, and nine deputies as defendants.
The County Attorney tells WGRZ he will appeal the jury's decision. The Erie County Sheriff's office has not commented on the verdict.
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