An officer and lieutenant from Toledo Correctional Institution have been on administrative leave for weeks as the Ohio State Highway Patrol investigates an alleged assault on an inmate that occurred during a drive to another prison in July, records show.
A third Toledo corrections officer involved in the inmate's July 11 transport to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, started a new job as an Oregon police officer on Aug. 8. But Officer Austin Martikan was let go from that new job on Sept. 14, a day after Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Corrections officials placed Lt. James Simmons and Officer Jonathan Barker on leave, documents state.
"This case was initiated as the result of a staff-on-inmate assault occurring during an inmate transport from Toledo Correctional Institution to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility," the state patrol said in an incident report dated Aug. 9. The report also cited suspected "dereliction of duty" by the corrections officials.
Troopers said Wednesday their investigation remains active. The case had not previously been publicly disclosed.
The inmate, Brandon Williams, was hospitalized due to injuries to his face following his move to Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, the state patrol report said.
The investigation appeared to start in earnest in late August, when a trooper traveled to the southern Ohio prison to interview Williams "regarding an inmate on staff assault that occurred at the Toledo Correctional Institution," the police report said.
Williams spoke of the incident in Toledo. He then also told the investigator he had been assaulted by corrections officers while being transported to the new facility.
The trooper reviewed Williams' medical report, which cited facial injuries including a "small laceration" and bruising around an eye and said he had been taken to Adena Regional Medical Center near Chillicothe following his arrival at the prison for treatment.
Most of a 13-page state patrol report on the case obtained through a records request was redacted.
Toledo Correctional Institution Warden Kim Henderson placed Lieutenant Simmons and Officer Barker on paid leave Sept. 13, about two months after the alleged assault occurred, employment records show.
JoEllen Smith, state corrections department spokesman, said they were put on leave "after additional information was learned pertaining to the investigation," but she did not elaborate.
A day later, Mr. Martikan submitted his resignation to Oregon police, effective immediately. He did not give a reason. Employment records say he resigned instead of being fired. He had been with the agency less than six weeks.
The two officers and lieutenant all submitted separate incident reports following the July 11 transport, maintaining Williams had harmed himself during the four-hour drive south to Lucasville.
Officer Martikan wrote that after Williams found out which prison he was going to, he "began to bang his head and facial region on the passenger side of the transport van." The officer said he told the inmate to stop and eventually he did.
Officer Barker wrote Williams had "suddenly become aggravated and combative in the back seat of the transport van" and he saw the inmate start hitting his head "against the steel gate covering the windows on the passenger side of the transport vehicle." He said it was "causing serious physical harm to the inmate," and Williams eventually complied with "multiple attempts" to get him to stop.
Lieutenant Simmons reported being in a "chase vehicle" behind Officers Martikan and Barker and stated the "transport did not stop at any point." He said after arriving at the prison, the officers told him about how Williams had "become irate [and] started to bang his head in to van."
Officer Barker has worked at Toledo Correctional more than four years and signed a "last chance" agreement to keep his job last year after officials said he violated several rules. They included giving an inmate a security device, playing cards while on duty, failing to properly handle inmates who were tattooing each other in a cell, and accepting candy and other food prepared by an inmate, employment records state.
Lt. Simmons joined the facility two years ago and was promoted to lieutenant last year, records show. Officer Martikan started in 2019 and resigned in late July to take the job with Oregon police.
None of the three could be reached for comment Wednesday.
Williams is serving a 14-year sentence for shooting and killing Willie Miller in June, 2016 in a Cincinnati apartment parking lot.
First Published November 2, 2022, 9:46 p.m.
