Son of couple in The Villages claims pancreas impaled by sprinkler during arrest

In a lawsuit filed against the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the son of a couple in The Villages claims that he was seriously injured and left in a coma after his pancreas was ruptured by a deputy who forcibly kneeled on his back and “impaled his abdomen on a sprinkler head that was underneath him.”

Sean Sheehan filed the lawsuit against MCSO in the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Marion County in January 2024. In that initial filing, Sheehan made a claim for losses suffered from injuries he allegedly sustained during an arrest nearly two years prior.

Sheehan is currently serving time with the Florida Department of Corrections and is imprisoned at the minimum security Santa Rosa Work Camp. He is due for release in 2026.

According to the complaint, on January 21, 2022, Sheehan was pulled over by MCSO deputies while he was driving in Ocala. Sheehan, who at the time resided with his parents in the Village of Mallory Square, claims he was ordered to exit his vehicle and to lie down on the ground.

As he was complying, Sheehan alleges that a deputy “forcibly directed” him to the ground “in a grassy area that was covered with debris and branches.”

After forcing Sheehan to the ground, the deputy allegedly “kneeled on Sheehan’s back, impaling [his] abdomen on a sprinkler head that was underneath him.” As a result of the alleged impalement, Sheehan suffered “serious internal injuries.”

The complaint alleges that the “situation grew rapidly worse” and that Sheehan advised deputies and an EMT that he was “seriously injured.”

“[Sheehan’s] complaints were ignored and he was booked and jailed,” reads the lawsuit.

While in the Marion County Jail, Sheehan allegedly complained of “pain and serious complications.” He was ignored until he “fell into a coma and was finally hospitalized,” according to the complaint.

Sheehan was comatose for three days and “coded at least once” during that time. The lawsuit alleges that Sheehan discovered his “pancreas was ruptured when the sprinkler impaled him.”

After the discovery, Sheehan was sent into emergency surgery and was “given a 5-10% [chance] of survival.” He was hospitalized for 30 days and developed “a hernia and requires additional surgeries as a result of the excessive force used and the complete disregard for his condition.”

Sheehan’s attorneys allege that the deputy acted in an “unreasonable and excessive” manner given that their client was “compliant and not resisting in any way.”

“The deputy failed to appreciate the risk of injury to Sheehan and unnecessarily exposed him to that risk,” reads the complaint. “MCSO agents simply ignored [Sheehan] until he became comatose. Had MCSO’s agents paid even minimal attention to Sheehan’s obvious severe distress, he could have received appropriate care and would likely have avoided the severe sequelae of his original injuries.”

In June 2024, the sheriff’s office filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that MCSO could not be sued. Shortly after that motion was filed, Sheehan’s attorneys filed an amended complaint renaming the defendant as Billy Woods, in his official capacity as Sheriff of Marion County.

In July 2024, Woods filed an answer and affirmative defenses in response to the amended complaint. In that document, attorneys argue that the “amount of force used to effect an arrest” were “reasonable and necessary under the circumstances.”

In August 2024, the sheriff’s office offered a proposed settlement in the case. That proposal, which was not made public, was not accepted.

Last month, Sheehan’s deposition was scheduled to be taken by attorneys representing the sheriff’s office.

On July 25, Woods’ attorneys filed a supplemental response to one of Sheehan’s requests for production. In the response, the sheriff’s attorneys argue that a request for certain documents previously submitted by Sheehan’s defense team was seen as overly broad and irrelevant.

A New York native, Sheehan had a lengthy criminal history leading up to his arrest in 2022.

In 2013, Sheehan was sentenced to house arrest in connection with a burglary at Hacienda Hills Country Club. In November 2015, Sheehan was arrested after he allegedly attempted to shoplift items from Belk at La Plaza Grande shopping center in The Villages. During that incident, Sheehan allegedly attempted to conceal nearly $200 in merchandise in a Belk bag and was found to have a wire cutter on him, presumably used to remove anti-shoplifting tags.

At the end of December 2015, Sheehan pleaded no contest to a charge of petty larceny and was sentenced to 180 days in the Lake County Jail.