Ombudsman Report Finds Use of Force Misapplied in Contraband Search
by Michael Dean Thompson
Prison guards in Connecticut employed too much force and used improper techniques on a prisoner suspected of carrying drugs, according to the Connecticut correctional ombudsman.
The May 2025 incident was originally planned by guards, who had received information that Richard Benson had been receiving drugs during visits, to remove him from general population for investigation. However, according to staff, as the guards approached Benson who was lying on his bunk in his dorm, he tossed something into his mouth. The guards moved quickly and, according to video, within three seconds after two guards were physically on top of Benson, one of the guards had his fingers inside Benson’s mouth and was yelling, “Stop biting me.”
Within another 30 seconds, the guards used pepper spray on Benson. Their target can be heard on the video coughing and gagging as he was pinned to the bunk by the guards. They continued to threaten Benson, “You’re going to get sprayed again” and cajoled him to open his mouth.
The object Benson had placed in his mouth was coffee cake. Unsurprisingly, the event left him choking and moaning that he could not breathe and that his eyes were burning. The guards persisted in their belief that Benson had ingested drugs, yet Benson was not taken immediately for medical treatment. As it turned out, there were no drugs found in his system. But not before Benson was criminally charged and disciplined. The criminal charge was dismissed, but the state Department of Corrections continues to punish Benson for the alleged assault.
Ombudsman Devaughn Ward said of the punishment, “Unfortunately, this is a pattern our office hears about far too often: force is used against an incarcerated person, serious questions are later raised about whether force was reasonable, and the incarcerated person is charged criminally or disciplined internally based on the same incident.”
Ward added, “That practice can compound harm and create long-term consequences for people in custody, including impacts on classification, programming, parole, probation, and reentry opportunities.” For that reason, the Ombudsman is asking that Benson’s punishment be rescinded.
Additional source: CT Insider
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