NOTE: FOX59/CBS4 has requested a mugshot for Dametric Gaddis which will be added to the article once provided.
INDIANAPOLIS — A Marion County inmate faces felony charges after police say he beat up his cellmate who he thought had farted in his face.
Dametric Gaddis, a 33-year-old inmate at the Adult Detention Center in Indy, was charged last month in Marion County Court with battery and criminal confinement. The charges stem from a June fight where a fellow inmate was attacked inside Gaddis’ cell.
Sheriff’s Deputies were called around 10:30 a.m. on June 22 to a housing unit inside the prison on report that an inmate had been assaulted. They arrived to find a male inmate wearing bloodied prison clothes and bleeding heavily from his face and head.
The inmate was reportedly taken to the facility’s infirmary for treatment before ultimately being taken to Eskenazi Hospital to close up several wounds and cuts. He was later released and moved to a new housing unit.
Officials reviewed surveillance footage from the inmate’s cell and saw video of the victim grabbing a chair and sliding it across the floor to his bunk. When the victim walked past Gaddis, the two got into an “animated and angry” conversation before the victim continued moving the chair.
Gaddis is then reportedly shown standing up from his bed and walking toward the victim, who was now sitting in the chair. The victim told police in an interview that Gaddis was upset about a noise he’d heard when the chair was being moved.
“[The victim] said that when he first started to slide the chair toward his bunk, his sandal made a noise on the floor,” court docs show. “As he passed Gaddis, Gaddis angrily told him not to ‘fart in his face again’.”
The victim said he explained that the noise wasn’t a fart, but rather his sandal. However, police said Gaddis did not buy the story and became very angry.
Police said that the video then showed Gaddis lunging toward the victim and hitting him in the left lower jaw with a closed fist. Then, Gaddis reportedly shoved the victim back into the chair before punching him “numerous” times in the face and head.
Investigators said they removed Gaddis from the cell and took him to a medical facility. He was then treated for bruising to his hands and knuckles before being cleared. Once Gaddis left, the victim called employees for EMS treatment.
A warrant charging Gaddis with confinement causing bodily injury – a level 4 felony – and battery causing moderate injury – a level 6 felony – was filed on June 27. An initial hearing in Gaddis’ case is scheduled for Wednesday, July 31.
Online court records show that Gaddis was imprisoned for auto theft and faces several other charges in Marion County including unlawfully carrying a handgun and dealing cocaine and meth.
