An Ohio Cop Was Caught on Video Beating a Restrained Inmate. He Just Resigned.
Credit to Author: Tim Marcin| Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2019 18:59:26 +0000
An Ohio cop from a troubled department has resigned after video showed him brutally punching a defenseless inmate who was strapped into a chair.
Pike County deputy sheriff Jeremy Mooney stepped down right before he was going to be fired, according to a Monday statement from the sheriff’s office. An internal investigation that included the video found that Mooney on Nov. 18 used pepper spray and repeatedly beat the man, Thomas Friend, who’d been taken into custody on misdemeanor assault charges and placed in a restraint chair for disruptive behavior. Disturbing video of the incident shows a gloved Mooney throwing heavy punches directly to Friend’s face while he sits defenseless. Friend’s face appears to be bloodied as he slumps down.
Both Friend and Mooney were taken to a local medical center and released the same day. Mooney later attempted to claim workman’s compensation because he broke his hand during the incident, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
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Mooney quit before he could be fired, according to the statement from interim Pike County Sheriff James E. Nelson. And Mooney’s supervisor, Sgt. William Stansberry, who police said was “present for a period of time during the incident,” has been demoted to corporal and suspended for two weeks with pay.
Police turned over the investigation to Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk to decide if Mooney would face criminal charges. Junk has reportedly requested the FBI get involved.
“It was disturbing to watch,” Junk told WKRC. “After reviewing it, reviewing the reports, I got a hold of the FBI. We made a copy of the case and the videos for them. I requested they review it for any possible federal criminal charges."
Junk did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from VICE News.
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The incident with Mooney is just the latest bit of turmoil for the department in the small Appalachian county of 28,000 people. Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader ― who is currently suspended ― was indicted in June on 16 counts, including felony theft for allegedly stealing cash seized from drug busts. The Ohio auditor’s office last month also charged Reader with making a false statement to the Ohio Ethics Commission.
Reader has previously admitted he couldn’t sleep and increasingly gambled during a two-year investigation into the 2016 murders of eight members of the Rhoden family, a case that thrust the department onto the national stage.
Cover: Still image from Pike County sheriff department video
This article originally appeared on VICE US.