Since no one would listen to him, Charles McCool said he felt like he had to do something that would force people to pay attention.
That’s why he was driving around Yazoo City with a large sign attached to his truck that invited the sheriff and the Board of Supervisors to kiss a part of his body that’s normally concealed by the seat of his blue jeans.
No one accepted that invitation, but McCool was able to sit down and talk with some people at the sheriff’s department so he considers his effort a success.
“I’m at my wit’s end,” McCool said Thursday morning. “I don’t know what else to do.”
McCool believes the county should pay the deductibles for his insurance bill following an injury that he says he suffered while in custody at the Yazoo County Jail.
It all started in June 2015. McCool has been diagnosed with depression and became suicidal while grieving the loss of his mother. A judge ruled that McCool was a danger to himself and ordered him committed to the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield. He was taken to the Yazoo County Jail to be transported to Whitfield.
McCool said that when he was getting out of the van after being taken back to the county jail from court, his shackles got caught up on something and he fell hard on the concrete. He said that he didn’t realize the extent of his injuries at the time.
“When I got to Whitfield they took pictures of my injuries because they didn’t want to be blamed for it,” McCool said.
McCool was later released, but he says he then had to have expensive medical procedures to repair the injuries from the fall. He says that his insurance paid for much of the costs, but he still has about $4,500 in deductibles that he cannot afford to pay.
McCool said he believes the county’s insurance should pay the deductible because the accident happened while he was in custody at the county jail.He said he could probably sue for damages, but he only wants to get the deductibles paid.
“I was born and raised here, and I love this community,” McCool said. “I don’t want to sue for a bunch of money because that would hurt the place that I live. I just want them to pay the deductibles for my insurance and get the creditors off my back. I think that’s fair.”
McCool said he has made numerous efforts to speak with local officials. He said he did speak with Sheriff Jake Sheriff at one time, and Sheriff was unaware of the circumstances of the case.
“I usually get the runaround when I go there,” he said.
On Monday McCool attempted to speak with the Board of Supervisors during executive session. He provided a letter from an attorney who he had previously retained stating that the attorney was no longer handling the case.
“I just wanted to talk to them in person about it,” McCool said. “I waited outside for two hours just to be told they weren’t going to meet with me because it wasn’t in their best interest.”
The statute of limitations in the case is set to expire later this month. McCool said he believes he is getting the runaround because it will soon be too late to do anything about it.
“I always thought that the supervisors were supposed to listen to the people who elected them,” McCool said. “Everybody keeps saying they don’t know anything about what happened to me. Why not? Who dropped the ball?”
The next day after Monday’s meeting, McCool took more extreme measures to get attention. He attached a large sign to the back of his truck.
He was encouraged by the response because he finally got to speak with someone at the sheriff’s department.
He said he was stopped by a couple of deputies who asked him to come to the station to speak with him.
“They were very nice,” he said. “They didn’t arrest me or anything. They just wanted to talk.”
But McCool was angry to learn that the sign was removed while he was inside.
“I threw a little bit of a fit about that because that’s my freedom of speech,” he said.
McCool’s sign was returned, and he had put it back on his truck on Thursday and was driving around town after he says he was told that it would be weeks before the county could address the matter.
“I don’t have that much time,” he said. “I’m trying to do the right thing, and it looks like I’m going to pay for that. I always wondered why the county and the city couldn’t get along. There’s no communication.”
McCool said he hopes to get a new attorney to take his case, and he hopes he will at least get a chance to plead his case to someone in a position to help him.
Until then, McCool says the sign may stay on the back of his truck if that’s what it takes to get attention.
Update:
On Friday McCool said he met with Sheriff Jake Sheriff, and they had a conversation about his issue. McCool said that he was happy with the conversation and hopes the issue can be resolved.
