A former inmate of the Woods Run prison claims in a federal lawsuit filed on Thursday that suspended prison guards Harry Nicoletti and Kevin Friess physically assaulted him more than a year ago after he questioned why an inmate was tampering with another's food.
Robert Veith, 50, whose address was not available, said in the lawsuit that he witnessed correctional officers telling inmates to tamper with other prisoners' food, including urinating and defecating in it.
On Dec. 8, 2010, he asked one inmate what he was doing to other inmates' food.
Later that day, Nicoletti and Friess searched Veith's cell and assaulted him, the lawsuit stated. Nicoletti yelled that Veith had punched Friess in the face, the lawsuit said, but Veith said he remained passive during the assault and did not hit Friess.
The lawsuit said that a hearing officer looked at a videotape of the incident or otherwise investigated it before determining that he assaulted Friess.
Nicoletti and Friess have been suspended without pay. Friess has been cleared of criminal charges arising from inmates' claims of assaults.
Veith is suing Friess and Nicoletti, plus four former prison officials -- Melvin Lockett, Martin Kovacs, Janice Niemiec and John Wiser -- and the hearing examiner, Kerri Cross.
Nicoletti's attorney could not immediately be reached for comment. The Department of Corrections declined to comment.
There was no phone listing for Friess.
