County agrees to pay $40K to inmate injured in jail

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) – A northern Indiana sheriff’s department has agreed to pay $40,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by an inmate with a leg amputated below the right knee who said he was injured in jail.

Doug Masson, a lawyer representing Tippecanoe County, told the (Lafayette) Journal & Courier that Anthony Scott Overla agreed to the settlement last month to cover medical treatment and legal fees for an injury sustained three years ago.

The lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana contended Overla was assigned a top bunk at the county jail in 2014 despite his condition. He says he was injured while jumping from the bunk, which had no ladder.

Masson says the settlement wasn’t an admission of guilt, but an avenue to avoid a jury trial.