Eight officers at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center have been fired or resigned after being accused of using excessive force on an inmate and subsequently trying to cover it up.
The state Department of Public Safety and Corrections, in a news release Thursday, said the terminations stemmed from a Jan. 9 incident at the facility in St. Gabriel in which officers were trying to move two inmates from a cell.
When the inmates failed to comply, shift and Tactical Team leader Kevin Durbin ordered a "cell extraction" but left before it was completed. The department says Tactical Team members then "lost their temper" and began repeatedly striking John Harold.
The terminated officers include Durbin, Andre Riley, Charles Philson, Adrian Almodovar, Michael Collins, Eric Norwood, Troy Rogers and Jarod Verret.