A Cranberry Township man has filed a federal lawsuit against the county, the county prison, prison officials and the prison healthcare provider alleging they did not provide medical treatment for an injury he sustained before he was incarcerated in 2020, causing him to suffer a stroke.

Steven Knebel, 53, filed the suit April 29 through his attorney, Steven Casker of Zelienople, in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial.

Named as defendants in the suit are the county, the prison, Warden Joseph DeMore, deputy wardens Jennifer Passarelli and Beau Sneddon, nine unnamed male and female corrections officers, health care provider Wexford Health Sources and two employees including registered nurse Shawnee Atkinson.

Knebel claims he was arrested May 2, 2020, in connection with an altercation with his neighbor and placed in the prison that day with a broken jaw and severed carotid artery he sustained when he was struck in the face during the altercation.

Cranberry Township police charged him with two felony counts of criminal trespass, a misdemeanor charge of simple assault and a summary charge of criminal mischief for his role in the altercation. The case is pending in Butler County Common Pleas Court. It is not known if anyone else was charged in the incident.

In the suit, Knebel said his temperature was taken when he arrived at the prison as a part of its COVID-19 protocols and his temperature was high. He said he told a corrections officer that he had been in a fight that evening and had a broken jaw. He said he was placed in a cell for the rest of the evening and did not receive medical attention or pain treatment.

During the official intake process the next day, he said he told an officer that his jaw had been broken and he again requested treatment.

Knebel claims he repeatedly told male officers and a supervisor he believed was Passarelli that his jaw was broken, he was in pain, he needed medical attention and needed a soft food diet because he could not eat solid food. He said his requests were denied and he received no treatment.

On May 5, he said he was told he had to fill out forms to request medical attention and a soft food diet, and a nurse would have to approve the requests. He said he completed the forms that evening.

Knebel said he was seen by Atkinson or another nurse on May 6, and they noted “very inflated tissues and soreness” and ordered X-rays and a soft food diet.

He said suffered a stroke in his cell due to complications from his fractured jaw and severed carotid artery during the evening of May 6 and early morning May 7.

On the morning of May 7, officers found him unable to stand with paralysis in the right side of his body, and was rushed to Butler Memorial Hospital where it was confirmed that he had suffered a stroke, Knebel said in the suit.

“If the prompt medical attention requested by plaintiff was provided, the stroke suffered by plaintiff could have been avoided,” according to the suit.

As a result of the stroke, Knebel suffered a permanent brain injury, permanent cognitive deficits, permanent speech issues and is permanently disabled, he said. He continues to suffer extreme pain and humiliation, and has not been able to continue working in his profession as an engineer, according to the suit.

County solicitor Wil White said Wednesday that he hasn’t seen the suit, and couldn’t comment on it. Wexford Health Sources couldn’t be reached for comment.