Clark County Sheriff: Fired sergeant ‘failed to take’ appropriate action

Staying with the story

The Springfield News-Sun first broke the news about a former deputy left reportedly drunk and alone in the jail lobby last year and has followed the story closely since, including coverage of the firing of three deputies and their appeals.

A federal arbitrator has upheld the firing of a Clark County Sheriff’s Office sergeant after an incident last year where a former deputy was intoxicated in the jail lobby.

Krista Cox was one of the sergeants on duty when former deputy Chris Dent appeared to be drunk in the lobby for about two hours before he was arrested, Sheriff Gene Kelly said. Cellphone video from that night shows Dent rolling and crawling on the ground and urinating in the jail lobby.

Dent was eventually arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and public indecency and later convicted.

RELATED: 3 Clark County deputies fired over drunken lobby incident

Cox and two other sergeants, Eric Sullivan and Carrie Taylor, were fired in October for dereliction of duty after an internal investigation, culminating in a disciplinary hearing overseen by the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office. All three sergeants appealed their firings.

A federal arbitrator ruled late last week that Cox’s termination was warranted, according to documents obtained by the Springfield News-Sun through a public records request.

“Her failure to allow or direct her subordinates to act was a violation,” the arbitrator says in the decision

Phone calls from the News-Sun to Cox and representatives of the Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council, which represented Cox in her appeal, weren’t returned on Monday.

Deputies reportedly asked Cox if they could step in to assist Dent, Kelly said, but she allegedly told them not to help.

“There were multiple counts where she failed to follow policy and procedure,” he said.

Cox denied she knew Dent had urinated in the lobby, the arbitrator’s decision says, but multiple people reported she had been told.

“They failed to take any appropriate action or response to help this man,” Kelly said.

Arbitration hearings for Taylor have already happened but no ruling has been issued yet, the sheriff said, and hearings are scheduled for October for Sullivan.

A complaint submitted to the Ohio Attorney General in December alleged the sheriff’s office had manipulated surveillance video from the lobby, the Springfield News-Sun previously reported. The complaint says the video, which was about 40 minutes long, had been edited.

“Those were allegations made by people who have no knowledge of the situation,” Kelly said.

The video cuts in and out because the surveillance cameras are motion activated, he said.

“I feel very vindicated from all of these slanderous statements made against me that the arbitrator did agree with the decision,” he said.

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.