Natalina Slaughter was walking through an isolated corridor in the St. Louis County jail when, without warning, a corrections officer lunged at and began strangling her — apparently the officer's form of a guerrilla "training exercise," according to a lawsuit filed in Minnesota U.S. District Court this week.
Slaughter, a medical technician who'd recently started working at the jail, says she thought the officer, James Burhans, was trying to kill her as he "placed one hand around her neck, and started to compress and strangle her," according to the suit. She tried to break free by thrusting a medication cart at the officer. Eventually, Burhans released her.
"He was just really strong, and I distinctly remember being surprised at how easily he could overpower me," Slaughter said in an interview Friday. "And that was really terrifying."
Slaughter called police, who investigated the Sept. 11, 2016, incident. But the officers did not recommend charges because they couldn't prove criminal intent, she said.
Slaughter suffered injuries to her neck, head and legs, according to the lawsuit. She's endured PTSD, panic attacks, missed a month of work and feared leaving the house.
"If I walk into a building and see security guards and police, I don't feel safe," she said. "It makes it difficult just to function in the world."
Slaughter learned Burhans had a history of similar attacks on new medical staff, according to the lawsuit.
"St. Louis County and its jail administration knew that Officer Burhans was perpetrating these attacks on new medical staff, but the County failed to take any action to discipline Officer Burhans or to direct him to terminate his unprovoked and unjustified attacks on new medical staff at the jail," the suit states.
