More details emerge in Maury officers' arrest

SNOW HILL - Two corrections officers at Maury Correctional Institution - along with a former officer at the prison - face charges of assaulting an inmate last year.

Ofc. Brian Bostick, Sgt. Terry Bell and former Capt. Gregory Beck are accused of beating Maury inmate David Richardson with their batons on March 21, 2008, according to court records.

"Our job is protecting the safety of the public and the inmates in our institutions," Alvin Keller, the state's correction secretary, stated Wednesday. "This agency has zero tolerance for employees who abuse inmates or operate outside the bounds of the law and our policies and procedures."

Agents with the State Bureau of Investigation arrested the three men Wednesday. The SBI had been investigating the assault since last July. Beck resigned that month.

Branny Vickory, district attorney for Wayne, Lenoir and Greene counties, charged all three with assault with a deadly weapon, inflicting serious injury.

"A corrections officer has a normal degree of force allowed in the normal course of their business," Vickory said Thursday.

The defendants have since been released from the Greene County jail on $15,000 bond each. They are scheduled to appear in District Court on July 10. The Department of Correction has also placed Bostick and Bell on investigative suspension.

David Anderson can be reached at (252) 559-1077 or danderson@freedomenc.com.

The accused

Name: Ofc. Brian Bostick
Age: 37
Residence: Snow Hill

Name: Sgt. Terry Bell
Age: 49
Residence: Richlands

Name: Former Capt. Gregory Beck
Age: 43
Residence: Greenville