Lawsuit over Harnett County inmate death part of years-long legal challenges for sheriff's office

A sheriff's office whose job is to serve and protect was recently served another lawsuit following the death of an inmate in the county jail.

The Harnett County Sheriff's Office has faced more than a dozen lawsuits covering the treatment of inmates, traffic crashes, and deadly encounters with deputies in recent years. Several federal cases where Harnett Sheriff Wayne Coats is named as the defendant date back to 2016.

The latest lawsuit involves a man who died in custody. The lawsuit said Eric Griffith was locked up because he didn't pay a $320 fine.

Zach Hinkle was distraught when expressing his feelings outside the Harnett Detention Center in 2021 following the death of Griffith, a friend of his.

"We thought he was safe," Hinkle said. "We figured at the jail house, if he’s in there, he can’t get anything as far as drugs go."

This new lawsuit says Griffith died of cardiac arrest and was caused by drugs he got inside the jail.

"The events were very troubling," said attorney John Taylor. "This death was preventable."

The lawsuit also challenges the sheriff's office, which said detention staff immediately performed CPR and administered a defibrillator to try to revive Griffith.

"It’s our understanding that Mr. Griffith’s cellmate was repeatedly calling for help after Mr. Griffith suffered a drug overdose and there was a significant delay in them responding and at the time they finally came the AED unit did not work," Taylor said.

Taylor was also part of the legal team that won a $6 million settlement over the shooting death of John Livingston. A Harnett deputy killed him during a warrantless search at his home back in 2015. A total of six families were part of that lawsuit against the department.

"There’s a troubling history in the public record of complaints about excessive force and constitutional rights violations and this is part of a pattern in practice," Taylor said.

This latest lawsuit backs up what Griffith's friends thought from the beginning.

"This is neglect," Hinkle said. "I can’t imagine how many others would feel the same way if it was their loved one, their best friend, their son, their brother."

WRAL News reached out to Coats to see if he had anything to say about the latest lawsuit. Coats declined to comment.