Transcription
Don't you're under arrest. You're divine. My kids 911. We need EMS. And right. We have CPR on progress. How long's he been down? Do you know? Um I do not.
Officers were dispatched to a business to assist an elderly customer who appeared to be suffering from dementia.
"Hey partner, how's it going?"
"I'm fix to go get my buddy."
At the scene, officers found him extremely confused. He thought that the year was 1948.
"What day is it?"
"This 1948, a 1948."
And that the president was George Washington.
"Who's president?"
"George. George Washington."
So, they call the man's daughter to come pick him up.
So, how did things go so terribly wrong that day that this 74-year-old man ended up dying alone in a jail cell 9 hours later, confined to a restraint chair with a hood over his head? The story of Lester Isel is one that could happen to anyone. He wasn't a criminal. He was a good man. He had committed no crime. Yet he would nevertheless fall victim to this terrible death at the hands of the very people who were supposed to protect and care for him.
A lawsuit has just been filed a few days ago by Lester's family. These are the allegations and they are truly unbelievable.
On February 6th, 2025, after being confined in a restraint chair for over nine hours with a spit hood over his head, Lester Isel died alone in a jail cell. He was 74 years old. Lester was the proud father of two daughters, 11 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. He was a lifelong resident of Monroe County, Tennessee, and a man of faith who preached for 36 years at a local church. In 2022, Lester retired from preaching, opting to spend his days working on his farm and spending time with his family. But as his health deteriorated, he began to require the assistance of a walking stick. He developed numerous medical issues, including diabetes, high blood pressure, mild dementia, and many strokes.
On February 6th, Lester drove to Security Finance located at 440 Isill Road. That's right, the same last name as Lester in Madisonville, Tennessee. He was going to pay his bill as he always did. While in Security Finance, Lester became disoriented and confused. He was unable to even stand up. So, at around 12:20 p.m., a concerned Security Finance employee called 911 on Lester's behalf.
"We have an elderly customer and he's got health issues and he's very disorientated right now. Is he want an ambulance? No. No, he's not wanting anything. We're afraid to let him drive. He's very disorientated right now. He's 75."
Soon after, officers Foister in Moore with the Madisonville, Tennessee Police Department are dispatched to the scene and told by the dispatcher that an elderly man who is very confused and disoriented and who may have dementia or other medical issues requires assistance.
"Security Finance. They have an elderly male there that's very confused, disoriented. They don't want an ambulance. They just want an officer to come out there and talk to him, see if they can maybe find the next amp, take him home. They're not sure if he's got dementia or what's going on with him."
Note that they were not told that any crime was committed or alleged to have occurred.
So about 10 minutes later, the officers arrive at security finance. When the officers arrive, Lester is sitting there in his car with his door open and he's talking to some people. Officers Foyister and Moore walk to Lester's open car door and they begin to ask him questions.
"Hey partner, how's it going?"
"I'm fixing to go get my buddy and then go and go to Okay, here. Let me hold on to this stick for you. There you go. That way you don't fine. Hey, you remember me? That was not finished. You remember me? You remember Forester?"
But in response to their questions, Lester's answers are incoherent, and he trails off without even finishing his seemingly confused thoughts. Foyer asks Lester what day it is. To which he replies, "It's 1948, ain't it?"
"What day is it?"
"It is 1948, a 1948."
Then Foyister asks Lester who the president is, and Lester says, "George Washington."
"Who's president?"
"George. George Washington."
Foyister then asks Lester what month it is. To which he replies, "I don't even know what year it is."
"What month is it?"
"I don't even know what year it is."
"You don't know what year it is?"
Foyer then steps away from Lester's car and he contacts dispatch and he states that Lester is very confused and a possible diabetic. Soon after, Foyister calls Lester's daughter to request her to come to Security Finance to pick up her father.
"I think I'm out with your father by by chance. Apparently, he was at like security finance and he's a he's a normal customer there, but he started acting disoriented and dropping his money and uh about fell. So, we called EMS, but he's he's not wanting to go to the hospital, but he seems kind of disoriented and he doesn't need to drive. Is there any way somebody can come out here and pick him up? I mean, I've dealt with you, Dad, before. It doesn't seem normal to me how he's acting."
Floyster then walks back to Lester's car and he's told that Lester is experiencing some type of seizure.
"Wendy either drink of water. What's that? This ain't got no chain in it."
His vitals are checked. His blood pressure is extremely high. His pulse rate and his oxygen levels are very low. And this indicates a hyperintensive crisis. A medical emergency requiring immediate attention. Throughout this encounter, Lester goes in and out of transes and is silently sort of stares off in the middle of conversations with the officers. During one of Lester's transes, they say that's not normal and he's in stroke range. Because as they acknowledged, his blood pressure was through the roof. That's not Lester.
At 12:57 p.m., although Lester Isel has not violated any law, officer Foyister gives him three options. Go to the hospital, go with your daughter, or go to jail.
"You're either having a medical issue, you're under the influence. Oh, yeah, man. And that's it. So, let me go take care my business. So, you going to the hospital? I've got to go pay for my We're not doing that. You have two options. I ain't got no options. going to the to where they are."
Lester tells officers Foister and Moore to leave him alone and let him be. At about 1:00 p.m., Officer Foister demands that Lester get out of his car. And when he is taken out of the car, Lester, who is neither under arrest nor has violated a law, requests to go to the bathroom, and he attempts to walk off, but the officers stop him. Lester then urinates on himself in the parking lot in front of several people.
At 10:05 p.m., although it was obvious, the on-scene medical personnel tells the officers that Lester's behavior is a medical issue because his blood pressure is high.
"You think it's medical or what he's doing?"
"It's medical cuz his blood pressure."
When Lester's daughter arrives at the scene, officer Foister tells her that Lester's blood pressure is really high and his heart rate is low.
"His uh his blood pressure is really high, heart rate's low. He's refusing to go. We can't talk again to go. Somebody else. He says it's not going with you. Your blood pressure's really high, Dad. And your heart and it it won't hurt again. Let me get my Are you taking him or No. Yeah, I'll take him. All right. We're not dealing with it."
At 10:08 p.m., Lester continues to speak unintelligible and again tries to walk off, but Officer Moore restrains him and Lester again tells Moore and Foyister to let him go, to get away from him, and to turn him loose. But instead, the officers decide to arrest Lester as soon as he signs the refusal for medical treatment form. Because Lester is incoherent and making rambling and disjointed statements, the refusal for medical treatment form is never actually presented to him, and so it's never actually signed. Rather, the medical refusal form is presented to Lester's daughter, who is then told that she's basically required to sign it. The officers tell her that they will make sure that her father receives medical care and treatment.
"All they want to do is out and then let you go. They're going to get you levels up and that's it. They're looking at a couple hours and then you'll be ready to go."
But once she signs the form, instead the officers put Lester in handcuffs.
"Don't fall. You're underestimate."
Officers Foister and Moore are fully aware at this time that Lester Isel is experiencing a serious medical episode and that they do not have probable cause to arrest him. Throughout the interaction, they had observed numerous signs of a serious medical emergency.
"And maybe you guys know who contact me. I'll let the jail know and see if they can't contact Mobile Crisis or something like that."
But instead of obtaining appropriate medical care for Lester, at 1:18 p.m., almost 50 minutes after their arrival at the scene, the officers handcuff Lester, load him in a police car, and then transport him to the Monroe County Jail.
"You're divine direct and the pursuit. Oh god, I got to go get my tires for my tractor so I can use it at home. Please, it's a match works in 1965. All right, my dear son, dear son, tell him stop. He got tell me tell"
Lester is then charged with disorderly conduct, a class C misdemeanor. Despite knowing about Lester's medical condition after he was arrested, the officers began to falsely allege that Lester was on something and state other facts in an attempt to fabricate justification for their arrest.
At 1:27 p.m., the officers pull into the Monroe County Jail, Sallyport. Officer Moore says, "Maybe Lester can get some help." He also says something in Lester's brain is not functioning.
At 1:30 p.m., Foister tells a jail co that Lester is disorderly, that he resisted a little bit, and that he's kind of loud and mouthy. As Lester is being removed from the patrol car, he sounds scared. He makes incoherent statements, he asks unintelligible questions, and he calls for his dog.
"You got me. Oh god, you're cancer. I'm not TK Health is a for-profit LLC based out of Oklahoma that is contracted to provide medical and mental health services to inmates at the Monroe County Jail. TK Health employees were familiar with Lester because he was there for a prior arrest in detention just a few months prior when Lester was arrested for DUI. That charge was subsequently dismissed for lack of probable cause, but it did create a record so that TK Health did have reason to know who Lester was and what sorts of problems he already had. In fact, he was treated much differently on the prior occasion. They evaluated him for a psychological episode and chest pains. Then they stripped him and put him into a suicide smok and placed him into booking cell BK10 in the Monroe County Jail, which is their padded room. However, on this occasion now, they would not place Lester in the padded room. Here's what they did do.
At 1:38 p.m., correctional officers forcibly carried Lester from the Sallyport and put him into booking cell BK13, which is not a padded cell. They removed his belt, shoes, socks, and watch, and then they just left him alone in that cell.
At 1:42 p.m., Lester stands up and he walks along the toilet partition wall in the cell, walking towards his cell door. As he turns to walk away from the cell door, he falls down and he hits his head and his face against the concrete bench along the back wall. The bench had no padding or protective covering. Lester was unable to brace himself before impact, and the force of the fall caused visible injury to his face into his head. Despite the seriousness of this impact, TK Health employees did not provide any medical assistance or even assess whether Lester suffered further injury.
In comes the restraint chair. Rather than provide Lester with medical care or treatment at 1:50 p.m., Lester's pants are removed. He is forcibly strapped into a restraint chair despite his exhibiting obvious signs of medical distress. As he is being strapped into the chair, Lester experiences an acute and dangerous medical condition. An hour earlier, his blood pressure was extremely high. He displayed low oxygen levels as well as an abnormally low pulse rate. These vital signs presented an immediate and substantial risk of serious harm, especially given his advanced age and his medical condition. He's showing signs of a serious medical emergency, appearing visibly distressed and unstable. His skin is visibly pale or bluish, and he is talking incoherently and obviously upset. Lester's chest, waist, arms, and legs are restrained. He is left immobilized in a seated position. Courtney Woods was a licensed practical nurse employed by TK Health and responsible at that time for providing constitutionally adequate health care to Lester. She was present at the time Lester was initially restrained. However, before he was restrained, Courtney Woods failed to perform any medical evaluation of Lester or even check his vital signs. Nor did she check Lester's head injury that did he had suffered from his head first fall into his cell's concrete bench. Once restrained, Lester appears unable to comfortably reposition himself, which further restricts normal breathing and circulation.
Now, in the restraint chair, Lester is put back into cell BK13 by the corrections officers and Miss Woods. The back of the restraint chair is now facing towards the cell door so that Lester's face and body cannot be observed by jail and medical staff. Despite Lester's substantial mental and medical health issues and alarming vital signs just an hour earlier, nobody appropriately checks on Lester during the first hour of his restraint chair confinement.
By 2:50 p.m., Lester had been strapped into the restraint chair for 1 hour. Despite the passage of one hour, Lester is not taken out of the chair. He is not given water. He is not allowed to use the bathroom. Lester remains visibly and audibly in distress. Still, Miss Woods fails to check on him and leaves him restrained in the chair.
By 3:50 p.m., Lester had been strapped into the restraint chair for 2 hours. His extremities are obviously discolored. He remains visibly distressed, unable to reposition himself. Despite the serious danger of his physical and mental condition, a spit hood was put over Lester's head and face. Miss Woods and others stand around Lester, and they laugh as he suffers in that condition. Despite the fact that the restraint chair manufacturer warns that detainees should not be left in the restraint chair for more than 2 hours by 4:50 p.m. Lester had been confined in the restraint chair for a full 3 hours. Now with a spit hood over his head since about 4:00 p.m. Still though, nobody appropriately checks on him. Still, he's not taken out of the chair at all. Still, he's not given water. Still, he's not allowed to use the bathroom. And still his extremities are obviously discolored. He's audibly upset and in distress. And still his medical condition remains very serious. Yet still, the jail and medical staff does nothing to help him. They don't even check his vitals. They do nothing.
By 5:40 p.m., Lester has been continuously confined to the restraint chair for 4 hours, and he's been wearing the spit hood for almost 2 hours. Even after 4 hours, they still don't take him out. They don't give him water. They don't let him use the bathroom. He still has discolored extremities. He still receives no medical care or even any examination at all. Throughout the shift of LPN Courtney Woods, Lester consistently writhes and he jerks in the restraint chair and he speaks incoherently. But at 6 p.m. her shift is over.
In the shift of another TK Health employee, LPN Greg Mills begins. According to the lawsuit, at the time his shift begins, he's made aware that Lester had already been confined in the restraint chair continuously for over 4 hours. Despite that knowledge, Mills fails to perform any adequate medical assessment of Lester's condition, which is now worsening. Throughout the 4-hour restraint period, Lester repeatedly yells and continuously moves against the restraints. Though his movements were not aggression, they were desperation. He shifts, twists, and struggles in the chair in a visible attempt to breathe, relieve pain, regain circulation, and perhaps to draw attention to his worsening situation. He experiences mounting panic. Denied water, he becomes increasingly dehydrated. Denied a bathroom break, Lester is forced to endure physical humiliation. These deprivations compound the medical crisis, intensifying the strain on Lester's heart and his lungs. At the same time, the restraint chair prevents normal breathing, circulation, self-regulation. Despite all of this, nobody does anything to help Lester. He's unable to move, unable to escape, unable to protect himself, unable to seek relief. He was suffering mounting inescapable emotional terror.
By 6:50 p.m., Lester has been continuously confined to the restraint chair for 5 hours. Still, nobody checks on him. Nobody checks his vitals. Nobody does anything.
After 6 hours of confinement, Lester is still not taken out of the restraint chair. He's not given water. He's not allowed to use the bathroom. Nobody even checks on him at all for over 2 hours straight. During this time, his medical condition is critical. LPN Greg Mills does nothing to help Lester.
By 8:50 p.m., Lester is still strapped in the restraint chair. Even after seven continuous hours, he's still not taken out of the chair, given water, or allowed to use the bathroom. It's noted that Lester is speaking incoherently. He's in obvious distress. Still, LPN Greg Mills does nothing, and Lester is kept in the restraint chair for yet another hour.
By 9:50 p.m., after 8 hours of continuous confinement in the chair, still nothing has been done. He's just left there in the chair with a hood over his head, no water, no bathroom. He's showing obvious signs of distress. So, what do they do? They leave him there for yet another hour.
Now, 9 hours later, at 10:50 p.m., Lester remains strapped in a seated position in the restraint chair without food, water, or even a bathroom break. Throughout LPN Greg Mills' entire shift, he never obtains Lester's vitals, though he would later falsely report that he did.
At around 11:00 p.m., over 9 hours after being placed in the restraint chair in booking room BK13, while still strapped into the restraint chair after nine continuous hours of having his chest, waist, arms, and legs restrained, totally immobilized in a seated position for 9 hours, unable to stand, lie down, or even reposition himself, Lester stops breathing and dies.
"County 911. Zip right over jail. We need EMS and right. We have CPR in progress. Okay, we'll send him over there. How long's he been down? Do you know? Uh I do not."
An autopsy was later conducted and the pathologist notes there were areas of strokes in the brain, listing the manner of death as homicide. The pathologist states the dehydration was a contributing factor in Lester's death along with a prolonged restraint in a restraint chair.
On June 4th, 2025, Monroe County Sheriff Tommy Jones issued a statement saying in part that Lester Isill was not cooperative with staff and that he was placed in a restraint chair to help calm him. Sheriff Jones defended the jail's use of the restraint chair and the spit mask as well as the treatment of Lester at the hands of jail staff. So, after reviewing all of this video footage, some of which you have just seen, the only thing Sheriff Jones did have a problem with from his employees was when one of them gave the middle finger to the surveillance camera. So, of course, he immediately fired that guy. But what about the rest of them?
Fortunately, several months later, prosecutors would see things differently. And in a move that would anger Sheriff Jones, prompting him to rant on his official Facebook page, most of the jail and medical staff involved in Lester's death were indicted. But Sheriff Jones was adamant that the TK Health employees were solely to blame. This is what he said.
"I acknowledge that certain individuals, including persons not employed by this office, i.e. TK Health employees engaged in conduct that could be viewed as negligent and must be addressed. With respect to my staff, I have personally reviewed all available recordings in their entirety where policy violations occurred, appropriate corrective measures have been taken. Did I or do I believe that anyone from my staff is guilty of homicide? The answer is unequivocally no."
So, five current and former jail employees were charged with official misconduct. LPN Courtney Woods was charged with criminally negligent homicide. LPN Greg Mills was charged with false reporting. Best as I can tell from the court's online records, all of those charges are currently pending and still in the initial stages with an arraignment occurring later this month.
Then just a few days ago on February 6th of this year, a federal civil rights lawsuit was filed by the estate of Lester Isville against the city of Madisonville, Tennessee, officers Foister and Moore, as well as TK Health and their employees Courtney Woods and Greg Mills. I'll post a copy of the full complaint at the blog linked in the description below. Claims were also asserted against the county, which were apparently settled for $1.9 million prior to the lawsuit being filed against the city, the city officers and the TK Health defendants. I guess the sheriff's opinion that his employees did nothing wrong wasn't worth the paper it was written on. Less actually, $1.9 million less.
When police officers arrest someone without probable cause that the individual had committed some arrestable offense, that's a false arrest, a fourth amendment violation. Moreover, whether or not that arrest is justified, once they take somebody into custody, that person is now their responsibility. They then have a constitutional obligation to provide any necessary medical care and treatment of which they have knowledge about or they reasonably should have knowledge about that the person needs. Here the video evidence establishes without a doubt that everyone involved had knowledge that Lester Isel was suffering from a medical emergency for which he required treatment.
"You think it's medical or something?"
"It's medical blood pressure."
That's the only reason that officers were called to security finance that day. Yet, after making the decision to take him into custody, they failed at basically every opportunity to provide care for this man. The arresting officers failed, the jail cos failed. Most egregiously, the medical staff paid by the taxpayers to provide constitutionally adequate medical care to inmates really couldn't have done a worse job than they did.
"We're heading 911. We need EMS and right. We have CPR in progress. How long's he been down? Do you know? Uh I do not."
They not only did nothing, they did worse than nothing. They put Lester in a restraint chair only designed for a maximum of 2 hours of use on a prisoner who is not suffering a medical emergency. Then they left him there for 9 hours without checking on him, without water, without a single bathroom break, but with a hood over his head. Lester suffered an absolutely terrifying and horrible death alone and away from his family. That the sheriff of that county didn't immediately fire everyone involved is egregious. If you or I were at home taking care of an elderly parent and we just strapped them into a chair and left them there until they died, would there be consequences for us? What do you think? Let me know in a comment.
At least now there is some accountability in the works. Criminal prosecutions of those involved as well as the civil lawsuit. May I suggest one other item of accountability? As a citizen of good old Monroe County, West Virginia, I don't think my fellow Monroe County would put up with having a sheriff who would defend what happened to Lester Ispull, especially while at the same time costing them $1.9 million as a result of that conduct that he's defending. Maybe you want to get rid of that guy.
But at the same time, these are allegations from the complaint in the lawsuit. No depositions have been taken yet in the civil lawsuit, and none of the criminal trials have yet occurred. I guess that's why they build courthouses. We'll just have to wait and see what facts actually get proven in court. The lawsuit was just filed, so it's got a ways to go. I look forward to following this one and doing an update as it progresses. You can follow along by subscribing both here and at the blog at the civilrightsawyer.com. You can follow me on next at johnbryanesq. Remember, our rights don't end where your fear begins. Freedom is scary. Deal with it.