2nd wheelchair-bound inmate alleges abuse

TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 29 (UPI) -- Lawyers for a second wheelchair-bound inmate say he was abused in a Florida jail.

Benjamin Rayburn alleges that guards at the Hillsborough County Jail threw him on the floor after pulling him out of his wheelchair, the St. Petersburg Times reported. Rayburn, a paraplegic, was allegedly left on the floor in a holding cell for more than an hour in October 2006.

Deputies at the jail say Rayburn tried to stab an officer with a glass crack pipe. But Heidi Imhof, Rayburn's lawyer, says security videotape shows clear mistreatment of her client.

"When you see this, there's like no way this guy could hurt you," Imhof said. "Why would you treat this guy like this, even if he's acting out?"

In another incident, a guard at the jail was fired for dumping a quadriplegic out of his wheelchair. The publicity surrounding that incident has led to a flood of claims of abuse.

Rayburn is serving a 10-year prison term.