A Springfield man filed charges Monday with the Monroe County Clerk’s Office alleging his civil rights were violated while he was an inmate at the Monroe County Jail.

The lawsuit names Monroe County, Monroe County Sheriff Neal Rohlfing individually and as sheriff, and MCSD Sgt. Logan Zirkelbach and Capt. Chad Mueller, both individually and as MCSD deputies.

The filing alleges that Tony Terry, 19, of Springfield, suffered a broken jaw during a Nov. 10, 2024, incident at the jail, during which Terry claims he was attacked by another inmate.

After the incident, the suit states Terry’s jaw had to be “surgically repaired.”

The lawsuit alleges Mueller and Zirkelbach, both allegedly present during the incident, “failed to protect” Terry from sustaining “severe mental and physical injuries.”

At the time of the attack, Terry was awaiting trial on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and residential burglary as well as 37 counts of burglary stemming from two separate instances of multiple unlawfully-entered vehicles in Columbia during July and August 2024.

In January, Terry was sentenced to four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (to be served at 50 percent and with credit for 115 days served) for burglary.

In the filing, Terry claims his Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure as well his 14th Amendment right to due process were violated “prior to the infliction of punishment for his (criminal) conduct.”

The filing further alleges “failure to properly train” deputies and a “practice of condoning misconduct” on the part of the MCSD “created a foreseeable risk that a class of citizens, held at the jail, of which (Terry) is a part, would be subjected to unjustified assaults and beatings from other prisoners.”

The suit continues by alleging “policies” and “customs” of MCSD as a whole led personnel “to not act to prevent misconduct of other such inmates.”

Terry is seeking damages in excess of $50,000 for his injuries, “humiliation and degradation, mental anguish and emotional distress” and medical bills.

A second count in the lawsuit alleges that Rohlfing, in his capacity as sheriff, “acquired actual or constructive notice” that Mueller was aware of the mistreatment of inmates and “had a history of ignoring violent and irregular behavior that was well-known within the (MCSD).”

The filing alleges Terry’s constitutional rights were allowed to be violated by Rohlfing allegedly “condoning misconduct of select deputies” and “protecting and maintaining rank and privilege regardless of misconduct.”

The suit also seeks in excess of $50,000 on the second count.