Trumbull sheriff's office terminates corrections officer

By Ed Runyan | June 27, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

WARREN

A corrections officer at the Trumbull County Jail has been terminated from his job after an investigation into his prescription drug use.

Ryan Tolone of Girard was placed on paid administrative leave in early June after an internal-affairs investigation. The probe was related to a report from the Ohio State Highway Patrol indicating that Tolone had the drug buprenorphine in his system when he was involved in a fatal vehicle-pedestrian accident on Belmont Avenue in Liberty on Jan. 28.

One of the trade names for buprenorphone is Suboxone, which most commonly is used to treat addiction to opioid drugs such as heroin or oxycodone.

Tolone later was fired, and a hearing officer upheld the termination June 22 after the termination was appealed. The hearing officer was Ernest Cook, chief deputy sheriff and county 911 director.

Sheriff Thomas Altiere said Friday he could not release information regarding the reasons for Tolone’s termination. A call to Randall Weltman, an attorney for the Ohio Patrolman’s Benevolent Association, which represents corrections officers, was not returned.

Meanwhile, Michael Bloom, prosecutor for Girard Municipal Court, said Friday he has concluded that no charges will be filed against Tolone regarding the accident.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol turned over its investigation and reconstruction of the crash to Bloom in late May to determine whether any charges should be filed.

Tolone was driving south on Belmont Avenue near the Vintage Village mobile home park when he struck Amy Huffman, 45, of Tibbetts-Wick Road, who was walking along Belmont, apparently in the roadway. Her toxicology results indicated she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.093 and the active ingredient for marijuana in her system. Huffman was pronounced dead at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital. Tolone was not injured.

Bloom said factors in not charging Tolone were that he showed no signs of impairment; there is no specified amount of buprenorphine indicated in Ohio law to indicate intoxication as there is for alcohol, cocaine, heroin or others; and the highway patrol indicated Huffman had contributed to the accident by walking on the wrong side of the roadway, while Tolone was not responsible for any contributing circumstances.

Bloom said Tolone did not produce a prescription for the buprenorphine, but not having a prescription is not relevant to whether to charge under the drunkendriving statute.

After talking to a toxicologist, Bloom said he has concluded that buprenorphine doesn’t affect a person’s ability to drive.