Circuit Court: Inmate Gets A Jolt Before Trial Anti-Escape Belt Went Off By Accident, Delivered 50,000 Volts To Man’s Body

Prisoner Mike Wachholtz was headed into a Latah County courtroom last week when the belt officers cinched around his waist began to beep.

Seconds later Wachholtz, 34, dropped to the courthouse floor. He screamed in pain as the belt delivered an eight-second, 50,000-volt burst to his body - by accident.

“The thing apparently went off all by itself. It was startling,” said Greg Dickison, an attorney representing Wachholtz on an armed robbery charge.

Dickison, another attorney and two Latah County sheriff’s deputies were in the courthouse with Wachholtz on Jan. 22 when the stun belt went off.

It was the first time officers had used the remote controlled device, which is supposed to prevent inmates from escaping when they are taken out of jail to court.

Wachholtz had just finished chatting with his attorney in the courthouse law library. Two deputies, one with the remote control for the stun belt, stood guard nearby.

“He (Wachholtz) got up from the table and I heard a beeping sound. I had no idea what it was,” Dickison recalled. “Mike looked behind him thinking it was the phone on the wall, then said, ‘Hey, this thing’s going off.’ He went down, screamed in pain and shouted ‘turn it off.”’

After the electrical jolt stopped, the belt started another cycle of beeps, warning it was ready to deliver another shock. An officer jammed a key into the belt and was shocked himself as he unlocked it from Wachholtz’s waist, Dickison said.

Latah County Sheriff Joe Overstreet refused to return repeated phone calls and talk about the incident. Sgt. James Lloyd, the jail commander, also declined to give any details.

“I’m not at liberty to talk about it,” he said, noting the county fears a lawsuit from the accident.

For four hours after the shock, Wachholtz couldn’t walk without help from deputies. His trial was delayed a day while he was treated by a doctor.

“He was hurting,” Dickison said.

The belt is worn over a shirt. When it goes off it tenses the body’s muscles and the person loses muscular control, according to Stun-Tech, the Cleveland-based company that makes the device.

Dennis Kaufman, president of Stun-Tech, said he’s never had a complaint about the belt malfunctioning in the five years he’s sold the device.

“We’ve had several accidents where the belt was set off manually, but this would be the first one that went off falsely if that is what happened.”

Kaufman said there’s a one in 29 million chance an outside radio frequency set off the $700 device, which is basically a stun gun attached to a belt.

“I’m sorry it happened, but right now we still don’t know all the circumstances or what the problem was.”

Latah County officials are in contact with the company to try to determine whether the device malfunctioned or if a deputy could have set if off accidentally.

Three Latah County sheriff’s deputies were trained by the company to use the belt. During training they also endured a shock by the device.

“They said when it’s done you feel like you’ve run a marathon,” Dickison said.

Wachholtz still has welts and a bruise on his back where he was shocked.

Dickison asked for a mistrial after the courthouse incident, saying Wachholtz screamed so loud people several rooms away heard him. Judge John Bengston denied the motion, saying there was no evidence that jurors heard the commotion.

The judge did order the belt not be used in court again, until an investigation is complete. The belt is being held as evidence because Wachholtz wants to sue the county.

Dickison said he won’t take that case, but is puzzled why his client was fitted with the device in the first place.

Authorities said the belt typically is used on inmates with a history of trying to escape.

There was nothing in Wachholtz’s record, a man accused of robbing a Safeway store last year, to indicate he would try to run, Dickison said.

“I have never seen them use the belt before,” he said. “But for some reason they put it on him instead of shackles.”

No other Idaho Panhandle jails or sheriff’s departments use the stun belt. Kootenai County Jail Commander Jeraldine Riggs looked into the device and watched a video about it, but declined to buy one.

“We didn’t feel it was necessary. We have video court and don’t have to take prisoners out of the jail that much” she said.

The device is used by a California jail and typically used in prisons or larger cities for violent criminals, Riggs said.

At least one stun belt was purchased for use at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. Officials there said they haven’t used it yet.

“We bought one because we have so many problematic and death row inmates that we have to take back and forth to court,” said Jim Blodgett, deputy director for Washington’s state prisons.

“But as far as I know we are the only state facility (out of 14) that has one of the devices. It’s just another tool and hasn’t caused us any problems.”

, DataTimes