Waukesha County Jail workers charged in man's death
WAUKESHA, Wis. - Two Waukesha County Jail workers are charged with felonies after an inmate died on their watch.
The medical examiner said an autopsy found five small bags containing nearly 10 grams of cocaine in Randy Glenn Jr.'s stomach. After his death, his family is looking for answers.
"They knew he was in distress, and they watched him die," said Attorney Mark Thomsen.
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On Jan. 16, investigators said Glenn was arrested during a traffic stop for a probation violation. It was connected to prior drug convictions. Prosecutors said Glenn was found dead in his Waukesha County Jail cell the next morning.
"When you hold someone in custody, you have a constitutional obligation to provide them medical care," Thomsen said.
Randy Glenn Jr.
Washington County was assigned to investigate Glenn’s death. In a news release, investigators said: "There were no obvious signs in the cell to suggest the cause of death."
On Aug. 18, prosecutors charged two jail workers with "abuse of residents of penal facilities." During intake, a guard told investigators he heard "choking or gagging sounds" and believed Glenn was "trying to ingest something."
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Prosecutors said jail nurse Deborah Link was told about it. According to prosecutors, she even inspected a baggie "that fell from (Glenn's) mouth." Link told police Glenn denied swallowing anything and that he was "fine."
Later that night, Glenn was "sweating very heavily." Lt. Johanna Grace was on duty at the time. Detectives said she found "two plastic bags" on the floor during Glenn’s strip-search. Investigators said she was "notified of the medical concerns" – but didn’t document it in her end-of-shift log.
Deborah Link; Johanna Grace
"There were many employees of the county, as well as Wellpath, that knew Randy Glenn needed to get to the hospital," said Thomsen.
Glenn was a married father of six.
Waukesha County Sheriff Eric Severson said an internal review is already underway. In a statement Thursday, he stressed Glenn chose to not only swallow drugs but to then lie about it to jail staff. The full statement is below:
The Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office is disappointed and saddened to learn of the charges issued in the death of Randy Glenn, Jr. while he was an inmate at the Waukesha County Jail on January 17, 2023. We offer our sincere condolences to his family.
The Sheriff’s Office values transparency in our operations and in maintaining the public’s trust. Immediately upon learning of Mr. Glenn’s death, although not required in this circumstance, I called for an outside agency, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, to conduct a thorough investigation. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office investigation began promptly and staff who had contact with Mr. Glenn were interviewed by the outside investigators that same day.
Mr. Glenn was booked into the jail after his January 16 arrest by City of Waukesha Police due to an alleged probation violation connected to his prior drug convictions. The State issued the probation warrant due to an alleged October 2022 domestic violence incident in the City of Milwaukee. In total, Mr. Glenn spent approximately 14 hours in custody within the Waukesha County Jail.
We place the highest value on the safety of everyone in the Waukesha County Jail. Tragically, it was Mr. Glenn’s decision to ingest plastic bags containing cocaine and fentanyl at some point before or after he was arrested. It was also his decision to repeatedly deny to jail staff that he had ingested contraband. Mr. Glenn was evaluated by nursing staff repeatedly while he was in the jail. Corrections officers routinely rely on these medical assessments conducted by professional medical personnel.
A full internal review of the events that led up to the death of Mr. Glenn is already underway. Further, consistent with state regulations, this in-custody death will also be subject to an external review by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. We will maintain the integrity of those reviews by offering this statement without further public comment from our office at this time.
Statement from Wellpath:
"At Wellpath, our mission is to provide quality care to every patient with compassion, collaboration and innovation. We are proud of what we do and the amazing professionals we get to call members of the Wellpath family.
Day in and day out, our professionals dedicate their lives to taking care of others, providing an exceptional level of care to patients. We will support Nurse Deborah Link throughout this process."