To be filed under W in the "What the -- huh?" case files: Douglas R. Dunkle, an inmate at Clarion County Jail, is suing the prison for lack of protection.

It all started in 1995, when Dunkle first tried to commit suicide by setting himself on fire in his garage.

He miraculously escaped serious injury, yet on February 21st, 1996, he tried to kill himself by jumping from the second tier of the Clarion County Jail. Breaking both ankles, Dunkle is now permanently disabled.

On February 17th, Dunkle, 34, filed a federal court lawsuit stating that Clarion County officials knew he was a danger to himself and to others, yet they did nothing to stop him from hurting himself or anyone else.

The Clarion native was taken into custody on charges he violated during his probation. Dunkle insists that he was suffering from a split personality and depression.

Within the confines of his lawsuit, Dunkle says that the jail's warden, Daniel Hornberger, failed to provide Dunkle with his medication before jailing him and did not put him on a suicide watch while he was being held. He further states that Hornberger also knew he had threatened to kill himself by jumping from the second tier of the cellblocks. To top it all off, Dunkle says the warden was aware he had tried to commit suicide in 1995 by setting himself on fire.

Since his wife was nearby at the time, hee was charged with reckless endangerment.

Dunkle served some time in jail and was on probation for the incident when police took him into custody for failing to stay in contact with his probation officer.

According to the lawsuit (and as quoted in the Post-Gazette), he was first taken to the Clarion Hospital emergency room where mental health counselors decided that Dunkle "posed an imminent threat of harm to himself or others". The suit continues on to say that Hornberger was told before Dunkle was jailed that he should be placed under a suicide watch.

Dunkle is seeking more than $50,000 in compensatory and punitive damages and legal fees from Clarion County, the Clarion County Prison Board, and warden Hornberger.

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