PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A former officer at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail is accused of attacking and choking an inmate in 2019.
The Portsmouth Police Department arrested Robert Whitaker on Jan. 28, 2022. He faces a felony charge for strangulation and a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery.
The criminal complaint, filed in the Portsmouth General District Court, alleges Whitaker assaulted and choked Johnnie Simmons at the regional jail on Feb. 8, 2019.
Simmons, who was released in 2021, told 13News Now he was handcuffed and defenseless, and Whitaker choked him until he passed out.
“I tried to say I can’t breathe and I found that there’s a luxury in saying I can’t breathe because I couldn’t utter the words," Simmons said. "I was inches from death."
Simmons alleged he was attacked and choked while a group of jail officers were escorting and carrying him back to his pod in the jail.
"No one [of the other officers] said anything," Simmons said. "They stood there and watched until I was unconscious, and then when I woke up I heard 'What did you do that for?'”
Simmons said he filed a complaint with the internal affairs at the jail after the incident. He said an officer watched a video of the alleged assault and encouraged Simmons to fill out a felony warrant and press charges.
"I was afraid to do so while I was incarcerated. People were telling me I would not make it out alive so I waited until I was released," he said.
Whitaker and Simmons are both Black, and Simmons said the other officers involved were also Black.
Attorney Amina Matheny-Willard, who was first told about the case last year by Simmons, said awareness about these situations is crucial for reform and justice.
"The bar should not be murder, and this is a case where the bar is not murder," she said. "Bringing light to it is important for it to stop and that’s really our goal here."
The Hampton Roads Regional Jail said Whitaker was an employee who is no longer employed with HRRJ.
An HRRJ spokesperson declined to share any information about discipline for Whitaker or other officers, saying she "cannot disclose personnel matters."
Simmons said Whitaker didn't return to work at the jail immediately following the incident.
An attorney who is listed as representing Whitaker did not respond to an inquiry Friday.
Whitaker is out on bond with a preliminary hearing set for April 19 in Portsmouth General District Court.