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Charles Clark has been in and out of
Louisville Metro Corrections since 2009. At 22 years old, his criminal record
is lengthy. He's been HIV positive since 2010 and has spent most of that time
behind bars for charges including theft, terroristic threatening, and assault
charges.
It's his latest charge from an
incident while behind bars on February 1 that's making headlines.
Louisville Metro Corrections
officials say Clark threw urine at one of the officers and due to his health
status, he's now facing attempted murder charges.
Clark agreed to meet with WAVE 3's
Matt McCutcheon for an exclusive interview about his life and the new charges.
When asked what was life was like as
a child, Clark responded, "Horrible. I grew up in foster homes and group
homes."
When asked if he felt like anyone
has loved him, Clark responded, "My girlfriend, that's about it."
Clark says it's that girlfriend who
transmitted the HIV virus to him. She learned she's positive while he sat
behind bars.
"They drew my blood here and I
found out November 2, 2010 that I was HIV positive," Clark said.
Life has since been a challenge for
him.
"There's nothing I can do about
it to change it. I could live to be 60, 70 years old with the medical advances
they've found as long as I take the medication every day for the rest of my
life."
But it's everyday interactions
that's a challenge for Clark, and the officers inside Metro Corrections.
When asked what's prompted some of
his violent outbursts Clark said, "I just have really poor impulse control
I can't find a way to cope that works for me."
Police say it's putting their lives
at risk. Clark explains some of his past tirades.
"While I was at the Emergency
Room the officer was smiling at me so I spit on him," he said while
referring to one event.
"I kicked the cop car
window," he said referring to a separate incident.
But it's the incident on February 1
that has him facing assault and attempted murder charges.
"I was just trying to help a
friend of mine get some extra money," Clark said. "I threw the urine
under the door so he could get biohazard cleanup pay, which he gets an extra $2
for cleaning up biohazard stuff so I threw urine under the door."
That HIV positive urine instead hit
an officer.
"He missed the inmate and
struck our officer in the face. Our officer had to go to University Hospital
and receive treatment," said Major William Ashby with Louisville Metro Corrections.
When asked if you regretted doing
that Clark said, "Yeah. It was stupid. I didn't know the officer was
standing there. He was signing a person's paper next door to me and I couldn't
see him; I didn't know he was there. As soon as it happened I apologized to
him."
At just 22 years old, he sits behind
bars "Petrified. It's a very serious charge. You make mistakes but you
have to learn from those mistakes," Clark said.
"It's bothersome that he's
assaulted officers. It's bothersome that he's also assaulted other inmates as
well," Ashby said.
Charles Clark's attempted murder
charge will continue to work its way through the court system. In the meantime,
he'll continue to be housed at Metro Corrections.
Source:
Wave News
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
