PHOENIX — Thirty inmates at Lewis Prison in Buckeye are suing the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry and several corrections officers over a June 1, 2025, incident in which officers used pepper balls and chemical agents on inmates at the prison's Barchey unit.
The lawsuit, filed May 26 in Maricopa County Superior Court, alleges assault and battery, negligent hiring, training and supervision, and federal civil rights violations under the Eighth Amendment.
"You know, today as we speak, a lot of the inmates are still hurt and still traumatized and physically hurt by this event that the guards caused them," attorney Benjamin Taylor said.
According to the lawsuit, the incident started just before 1:00 p.m. on the Red Side of the Barchey recreation yard. The lawsuit says inmate Marquis Timmons was returning from a family visit when a sergeant stopped him, accused him of leaving a building he was not authorized to enter, and told him to tuck in his shirt. Timmons refused to be handcuffed, saying he had not done anything wrong, but agreed to walk on his own to the Inmate Management Office.
The lawsuit alleges Timmons' legs were swept out from under him, and he was slammed him to the ground face-first, breaking his nose.
The post-incident review, signed by the warden, identified a specific concern about how the incident began.
"The sergeant did not de-escalate the situation," the review team leader wrote in the report.
The warden's final comments on the entire incident stated: "The force used overall during the response was reasonable and necessary. However, the initial use of force by the sergeant was viewed as unnecessary by the committee."
The report also states the sergeant was placed on no inmate contact pending completion of an administrative inquiry. The Criminal Investigations Unit determined the matter was non-criminal.
Other inmates gathered, concerned about Timmons’ condition, according to the suit. The lawsuit says some of those inmates spoke with an officer, asking him to check on Timmons and confirm he was receiving medical care.
"The inmate's mouth was bleeding, so I and other inmates came outside to check on him," Lipsey told ABC15. "We were not violent towards any officer. We didn't punch, scratch, nobody. There was no violence."
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According to the DOC use of force report, by approximately 1:29 p.m., the Tactical Support Unit and K9 units arrived on site with approximately 100 inmates still on the yard. The report states inmates continued to refuse all verbal commands, and the TSU deployed chemical agents on a group of approximately 20 inmates to get them to comply with directives.
The lawsuit alleges that before the officer returned with information about Timmons, officers armed with chemical foggers, pepper ball cannons, and unmuzzled K9s surrounded the inmates and, without waiting for compliance, began firing chemical agents and pepper balls at them from approximately 1 to 10 feet away.
"No de-escalation tactics were used or attempted whatsoever," Lipsey said.
After restraining the inmates, the lawsuit alleges officers moved through the administration building where they deployed chemical agents and pepper balls on inmates who the lawsuit says had no involvement in the events on the yard. The DOC report notes the Barchey unit was not fully secured until approximately 3:34 p.m. — more than 2 hours after the incident began.
The lawsuit details injuries alleged by all 30 plaintiffs. Among the most serious:
- Lipsey lost consciousness for approximately 2 minutes after being sprayed with chemical agents directly in the face from 1 foot away. The lawsuit says he sustained a concussion and has experienced ongoing memory loss, headaches, and blurred vision.
- J.D. Buffin was allegedly slammed headfirst into the ground and required 3 stitches to his forehead at a hospital.
- Joseph Long allegedly had his left shoulder dislocated when an officer pulled his arms up with force to apply zip ties. The lawsuit says he was not provided medical care and reset his own shoulder.
- Frederick Miller allegedly lost all hearing in his right ear after chemical agents were sprayed directly into it.
- Darrin Wiles was allegedly shot twice in the left leg with pepper balls while standing in a day room facing a wall with his back to officers, following a corrections officer's instruction to do so.
- The lawsuit alleges that across all 30 plaintiffs, zip ties were applied so tightly they cut into inmates' wrists, caused lacerations, restricted circulation, and in some cases caused nerve damage. Most inmates were held on the ground or in cages at the sally port for approximately 2 hours without adequate decontamination or medical care. The DOC report documents multiple inmate injuries and notes one officer was sent to Abrazo Buckeye Hospital after injuring his hand during an inmate restraint.
"The force here was overly aggressive compared to what the minor infraction was," Taylor said.
The lawsuit brings four counts against the defendants: state law assault and battery, negligent hiring, training and supervision, and two federal civil rights counts under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorneys' fees, and have demanded a jury trial.
Taylor also raised questions about whether race played a role in the response.
"Our clients believe that this could be a racially motivated attack on them," Taylor said. "You can't attack a person because of their race or their color and because this was happening to mostly African American prison inmates, it makes you wonder why did they spray them when they were just standing there not doing anything wrong."
"I'm not supposed to get punished — this is just supposed to be a place where I come serve my sentence," Lipsey said.
"The state and these prison guards have an obligation to protect these prisoners and keep them safe," Taylor said. "People need to understand what goes on in the prisons — you have people just standing there, not doing anything wrong, and they're being assaulted."
The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry did not address the allegations directly, saying ADCRR does not comment on notices of claim or pending litigation.
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