Report: Guard inquiry not referred to police

April 18, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

AKRON

A juvenile-detention guard was fired but faced no criminal investigation after officials found he intentionally hurt a 17-year-old inmate and falsified a report about the matter, a newspaper reported Saturday.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports on its Web site that Summit County Juvenile detention guard Brandon Jones was fired in December after an internal investigation into an altercation with Anthony Miller of Akron.

Video surveillance shows Jones lift the teen and drive him head-first onto the floor during the November altercation, the newspaper reports. An investigation by the Juvenile Court that operates the center says Jones was unprovoked.

Charles Quinn, an attorney who represents Miller and his mother, says the court, police and prosecutors should have looked further into the matter.

“I have no idea what they’re thinking by not following up,” Quinn said. “It should have gone to the normal course of what they do with anybody when there’s a videotape of an event.”

Mary Ann Kovach, chief counsel for Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh, said law enforcement should have investigated further.

“I think anytime someone alleges that a crime’s been committed, I’d like to see an investigation done,” Kovach said. “I don’t think this case is any different than any other case.”

Court spokesman Don Ursetti could not say why the matter wasn’t referred to police.