Idaho man files complaint, claims mistreatment at jail

A Caldwell man claims he was kept in crowded and unsanitary conditions while confined in a medical isolation cell at a jail in western Idaho.

The Idaho Press-Tribune reports 50-year-old Eric Swain Johnson filed a prisoner civil rights complaint last year after spending three days in the medical isolation unit at the Canyon County jail.

The complaint claims that Johnson was held in a cell that contained up to nine men at times and he was forced to sleep and eat by the toilet.

The Canyon County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on its pending litigation.

Johnson is seeking $4.25 million in damages and changes to the system.

Johnson is currently imprisoned at the Idaho State Corrections Institution on assault, gun and drug charges.