By Katie Wedell
Dayton Daily News
DAYTON, Ohio — Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly fired three veteran sergeants on Friday following an incident in May involving an intoxicated former deputy who was left alone for hours in the jail lobby.
Sgts. Krista Cox, Eric Sullivan and Carrie Taylor were terminated for dereliction of duty, Kelly said.
“It’s a sad day when you have to terminate employees but this community can have full confidence that we will investigate our own, that we will take the appropriate action if necessary,” he said.
Two of the three deputies filed appeals of their firings as of Friday afternoon, and Kelly expected the third to follow.
The firings weren’t justified, said Mark Scranton, a representative of the Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council, the union representing the sergeants.
“We believe the discipline was without just cause, and we will let an arbitrator decide,” he said.
The firings came after a five-month internal investigation, culminating in a disciplinary hearing overseen by a Clinton County Sheriff’s Office employee.
Former Clark County Deputy Christopher Dent, 34, of Springfield, spent more than two hours in the lobby of the Clark County Jail, 120 N. Fountain Ave., on May 13. At times he fell to the floor, slept on the ground, became combative and even urinated in a corner, according to his arrest report and a video recorded by David Carty, who was also in the jail lobby.
The video was posted online and sparked the investigation into why deputies didn’t intervene sooner.
The internal investigation report alleges all three sergeants were in their office as numerous employees reported Dent’s actions in the lobby.
They ordered deputies to not engage with him, the report says.
The incident began just after 10 p.m. when Dent entered the lobby, approached the window and had a conversation with Cox about something that happened outside. Witnesses reported he was visibly intoxicated and difficult to understand.
He then walked over to the Springfield Police Division side of the building, the investigation report says, and Cox told deputies not to worry about him.
Dent then returned to the jail lobby and became disorderly.
Cox was told Dent had fallen and hit his head, was trying to fight people in the lobby and that he had urinated, the report says.
When Cox and Taylor left at 11 p.m., Dent was reportedly passed out in the lobby.
A nurse in the jail reported that she complained about Dent exposing himself and urinating.
“You know there is a guy out there video-taping and you know this is going to be on the news,” the report says she told Sullivan.
Both Cox and Sullivan denied having these conversations with other employees.
About midnight, the video had hit the internet and a road sergeant had been sent a link. He called the jail and was told by Sullivan that he, “had no idea that Mr. Dent was in the lobby.” Sullivan admitted to investigators that he lied, the investigation report says.
At 12:22 a.m. Sullivan entered the lobby, and arrested Dent for disorderly conduct and public indecency. He was convicted of those charges.
Cox and Taylor couldn’t be reached for comment Friday. Sullivan’s wife said he had no comment.
The sergeants received letters dated Friday informing them of the hearing officer’s findings that the failure of all three to properly address the incident amounts to gross employee misconduct and warrants termination.
“Furthermore, your insubordination and dishonest responses to the criminal and internal investigators also warrant the termination of your employment,” Cox and Sullivan’s letters say.
Kelly initially ordered a criminal investigation into his employees’ responses to the incident. An investigator with the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office reviewed the matter, but decided that only an administrative investigation was necessary.
Cox was hired in 2006 and was promoted to sergeant in 2011. Taylor was hired in 1999 and was promoted to sergeant in 2012. Eric Sullivan was hired in 1992 and promoted to sergeant in 2006.