The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office is conducting an investigation into an allegation made on social media—in which a local woman claimed that a man who has been charged with murder and remains a Carroll County Jail inmate, was allowed to be free of shackles/ handcuffs/ physical restraints when he was escorted by a deputy inside a local doctor’s office this week.

She alleged that the inmate in the doctor’s office was Richard Edward Sigman. Sigman faces numerous charges—including murder. He was denied bond by a judge.

Via her Facebook page, Paige Wessinger stated:

“I had an appt at Carrollton orthopaedic today. My granddaughter was with me …. As i’m sitting there waiting a carrollton deputy brings this prisoner in with NO HANDCUFFS AND NO SHACKLES. Now I know this ain’t the old America but I would think that someone that gunned down a college student a couple of weeks ago would have some cuffs on at the least ……But NO….. there he went and sat about 8 feet from me. I proceeded to grab my girl and walk to the front desk and ask why a murderer was sitting in a very populated lobby with no restraints where the girl responded “i’m not allowed to talk about it and the victim was my friend.” I rescheduled my appt…”

Wessinger’s post concluded: “I just think the citizens deserve to know that they don’t have a problem taking a murderer to his appt unrestrained.”

The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office has been made aware of the allegations and the online post. An official told WLBB Radio that there are policies in place for deputies escorting inmates outside of the jail— for the safety of the inmate, deputies and the public.

CCSO: “We are conducting an internal investigation to determine any policy violations at this time. As always the safety of the citizens of Carroll County is and has always been our top priority and once the complaint was brought to our attention we immediately took action and began to investigate the series of events from yesterdays transport.”