By Meredith Anderson and Saint Julian Cox III
Published: Apr. 18, 2024 at 5:54 PM EDT
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Our I-TEAM has uncovered a dangerous, disturbing and deadly trend when it comes to local jails in South Carolina.
None meet state safety standards – not a single one.
Violations include fire alarms and cameras not working, but there’s also a danger to you.
Jails don’t have enough guards, and inspectors found doors with failing locks. It’s not something our I-TEAM set out to find.
It started when we began investigating the death of one man in one of our local county jails. Instead, we found the problem is so much bigger than one jail.
ALAN THIBODEAU DID NOT BELONG IN JAIL
Alan Thibodeau was already in crisis the night he was arrested in Bamberg County, and it would soon become very clear he did not belong in jail.
A judge even agreed and ordered his transfer to a mental health facility, but the system moved painfully slow as he was rapidly getting worse.
When the jail finally called for an ambulance, it was too late.
Thibodeau died at the hospital.
“Y’ALL CAN HAVE IT.”
Looking back, something Thibodeau said in the back of a Bamberg County deputy’s car before he ever made it to the detention center could have been a window into his mental state the night he was arrested.
Family and friends tell the I-TEAM his Camaro was his prized possession, but body-worm camera video captures him giving it to deputies.
“Y’all can have it,” Thibodeau tells them on body cam.
The Bamberg County Sheriff’s Office did take his car that night. Documents show deputies had it towed.
A series of failures then took his life.
DYING FOR HELP:
- A special report on the Alan Thibodeau case
- Mental illness behind bars
- How a man’s mental illness in a local jail was his death sentence
- Bamberg County sued after mental health patient wastes
- Family speaks for first time on Bamberg County negligence lawsuit
NEW DOCUMENTS ARE SHEDDING NEW LIGHT
The I-TEAM reviewed inspection reports for Bamberg County’s Detention Center, which includes a letter from the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
The letter basically outlines how the jail is in such bad shape, that the state is threatening to shut it down.
Inspectors conclude the Bamberg County Detention Center is “unable to properly provide for and manage the appropriate housing of all mentally disordered inmates.”
It’s not rare for an inmate to be in crisis.
The Department of Justice estimates around half of those housed in local jails have been diagnosed with a mental illness — 26% experience “severe psychological distress.”
Thibodeau’s psychological distress was so severe, that doctors with the State Department of Mental Health had trouble completing his court-ordered evaluation.
Documents show he wasn’t even able to participate in his psychiatric interview.
Instead, he “became agitated” and started saying “bizarre” things.
The doctor noted he was speaking so quickly, he barely had time to take a breath.
At this same evaluation, doctors also noticed his jumpsuit was “ill-fitting,” and he had difficulty keeping his pants up. Two months into his five-month stay at the Bamberg County Detention Center, this appears to be the only documentation of his extreme weight loss.
In all, he lost about 80 pounds and essentially starved to death, but the I-TEAM couldn’t find where anyone in charge of Thibodeau’s care seemed concerned about his nutrition.
Even after he died, a lieutenant at the jail sent a letter to the coroner, explaining how he “never refused food” and occasionally asked for seconds.
BAMBERG COUNTY DETENTION CENTER FAILURES
In 2022, the year Thibodeau died, the Bamberg County Detention Center failed the state standards for not having a dietician or medical authority plan on file for basic food rations for inmates.
In 2023, barely a year after medical records show a severely malnourished Thibodeau died at the hospital, state inspectors found this same facility, once again, failed this same standard.
The state requires an “acceptable level of cleanliness and sanitation,” but in the body cam video, you can clearly see feces stuck to the wall. Reports show Thibodeau would throw it from his cell. The body cam video is from the day he finally went to the hospital. He hadn’t been eating and was unresponsive, meaning it’s likely the fecal matter was left there for some time.
The Bamberg County Detention Center failed all aspects of a cleanliness and sanitation plan — from the daily sweeping and mopping of floors to the scrubbing and rinsing of living units each week.
This is just the beginning. Reports outline how some security cameras weren’t operational, but even if they were, there are blind spots.
Not all inmates have access to hot and cold water.
Some have no water at all.
The toilets are leaking and broken.
In their last three visits, State Fire Marshalls found failures too; fire alarms and sprinklers were out of service. They also found missing sprinkler heads.
BAMBERG COUNTY JAIL INSPECTIONS:
STATE HAS INCOMPLETE RECORDS
We asked for all reports since 2018, and the South Carolina Department of Corrections only sent us inspections from Bamberg County in 2022 and 2023 and fire safety inspections from 2021, 2022 and 2023.
When asked why some reports were missing, the FOIA office replied with the following: “Our response included all of the inspection reports for each of the counties requested that we had. We have no further inspection reports for Bamberg County to send.”
They sent us zero DHEC “Food Establishment” inspections for Bamberg County, even though those records were supplied for other counties at our request.
Fixing these problems can’t bring Thibodeau back, but maybe they could save another family from this heartache.
“Nobody realizes when they’re going to end up being where we’re at today,” said Larry Thibodeau, Alan’s brother.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THIBODEAU’S CAMARO?
When asked to describe Thibodeau’s car, his childhood best friend laughed.
“Chick magnet,” Michael George said with a smile.
On the night he was arrested, the Bamberg County Sheriff’s Office had it towed, but documents show the towing later mailed a letter to Thibodeau in Virginia — when he was still in Bamberg County’s jail.
He had 30 days to get it back. Fees were racking up at Chris Auto Sales by the day.
“His car was everything,” said Ed Thibodeau, another of Alan’s three brothers.
The court sent Thibodeau a notice to appear in Magistrate Court on September 30.
He never showed up.
He couldn’t.
Thibodeau died 2 months earlier.
“It was Alan’s car. There’s nothing we could have done. Just because we’re brothers. I mean, we help take care of him,” said Ed. “But we didn’t have any legal authority to do anything.”
Chris Auto Sales had legal authority, though.
Under South Carolina law, when Thibodeau didn’t pay the almost $4,000 in towing and storage fees, the company was able to buy it at a public sale.
Court records show Chris Auto Sales bought it for $1.
Thibodeau’s family had no idea until the I-TEAM showed them the paperwork.
For this family that’s already lost so much, it was just another painful reminder of another part of their brother they’ll never see again.
MORE FROM THE I-TEAM:
- Discrimination lawsuits filed against Richmond County Sheriff’s Office
- More Richmond County Sheriff’s Office firings, demotions
- See how many employees RCSO is losing
- Warrants detail jail confrontation between deputies, inmates
- Amid jail arrest, cop already faced DUI charge
- Augusta DA responds to Richmond County jail incident emails
- Video sheds light on jail incident that spurred arrests of multiple law enforcement officers
- A look at the details in recent Richmond County investigators’ arrest
OTHER COUNTY JAIL INSPECTION REPORTS
As with the Bamberg County reports, there are reports missing from other counties as well. It raises a lot of questions on whether the South Carolina Department of Corrections even has a complete picture of all the problems in the jails it oversees.
AIKEN COUNTY:
SALUDA COUNTY:
McCORMICK COUNTY:
EDGEFIELD COUNTY:
BARNWELL COUNTY:
ALLENDALE COUNTY:
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