Officer fired, is charged with altering document

By Ed Runyan

An off-duty deputy will answer to a misdemeanor charge Thursday.

WARREN — A Trumbull County Jail corrections officer was fired after being accused of altering a document pertaining to whether an inmate, who later died in the jail, appeared to be under the influence of drugs when he was booked in.

The firing became known the same day another jailer was charged in Newton Falls Municipal Court with discharging a firearm in the city limits for a confrontation he had with a motorist in front of his Newton Falls home.

Michael Palumbo, 38, of Niles, an eight-year employee, was fired Monday, said Chief Don Guarino of the sheriff’s department.

According to a letter from Dennis Watkins, Trumbull County prosecutor, and Sheriff Thomas Altiere, jail officials discovered last month that Palumbo altered the booking information he had recorded Jan. 12, 2008, regarding inmate Adam N. Border, 24, of Vienna.

Originally Palumbo indicated that Border was not under the influence of drugs when he was booked in.

But when Eric Shay, assistant warden, was reviewing booking information June 4 while meeting with an attorney representing the county in a lawsuit filed by Border’s family, Shay discovered that the booking information had been altered, the Watkins-Altiere letter says.

Shay determined that Palumbo changed the information April 27 to indicate that Border was under influence of drugs when he was booked in, the letter says.

The letter was sent to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation asking the agency to investigate the matter to determine whether Palumbo’s actions constituted criminal activity.

Border was found dead in a cot in the day room of the jail at 5:37 a.m. Jan. 13, 2008 — the morning after he entered the jail, according to Vindicator files. A coroner’s investigation later determined that he had died from an accidental drug overdose.

Border’s family later filed a $750,000 lawsuit against the county alleging that corrections officers and medical personnel failed to take the proper steps to treat Border’s overdose, saying that arresting officers were told Border had taken a large amount of prescription drugs and that Border showed signs of being under the influence in the hours after he arrived.

Border was arrested Jan. 12, 2008, at a gas station in Bazetta after he had a confrontation with a woman.

Guarino noted that Palumbo has the right to challenge the firing through his union, the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.

Meanwhile, Newton Falls Police charged Timothy Billock, 43, a jail corrections officer, with discharging a firearm in the city limits, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, for reportedly firing a gun at a motorist outside of his home on East Broad Street at about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday.

Newton Falls police said Billock was taking out trash when a vehicle with no headlights on came speeding up his street.

Billock said he showed the driver his badge, identified himself as a sheriff’s deputy and told the driver to turn on his headlights, but the driver yelled obscenities instead, police said.

Billock got close to the driver’s door, extended his badge and again told the driver to turn on his lights, but the driver reached for Billock’s hand and started to drive away, dragging Billock with him, the Newton Falls police report says.

Billock said he fired his gun at the driver to get him to let go of his arm, the report says.

But Police Chief John M. Kuivila said Friday that important evidence needed to back up Billock’s description of events is missing: marks on Billock’s arm that would show that he was being dragged.

Kuivila added that Billock’s behavior in running in front of a car while in plain clothes to confront a driver over a misdemeanor traffic offense was not “prudent.”

The driver of the car, Harry C. Hukari Jr., 36, of Bridge Street, Newton Falls, was later charged with assault, a first-degree misdemeanor, for an earlier altercation with his girlfriend.

Billock’s badge was inside Hukari’s car, but no bullet hole was found, and no one was injured, police said.

Hukari pleaded innocent to the assault charge Thursday in Newton Falls Municipal Court.

Guarino ordered Billock, who has worked at the jail for 15 years, to turn in his commission as a law enforcement officer and his badge today, though Billock will be allowed to return to work as a corrections officer next week when he returns from vacation, Guarino said.

Billock’s commission as a police officer allows him to work side jobs and as a reserve deputy, Guarino said. The status of Billock’s commission and job with the department will be determined after the conclusion of the Newton Falls Police Department’s investigation, Guarino said.

runyan@vindy.com