March 09--MOUNT STERLING, Ohio -- A Mount Sterling police officer apparently Tasered a 9-year-old boy earlier this week, prompting a shut-down of the entire force.
Long-embattled Police Chief Mike McCoy has been suspended, and officers that were being used on a part-time basis are no longer working, Council President Lowell Anderson said.
Village Administrator Joe Johnson refused to release the report on what the village is calling "an incident involving use of force." Mayor Charlie Neff said in a prepared statement only that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation has been asked to investigate what happened.
Madison County Prosecutor Steve Pronai, however, said police were called on Tuesday to an apartment on S. Market Street in the Madison County village. The caller, Michelle Perry, said her son, Jared, refused to go to school. From there, Pronai said he doesn't know much about it except that the situation escalated and Officer Scott O'Neil used his Taser.
Pronai had little information beyond that, and said BCI will handle it moving forward.
Anderson said that even though the incident happened on Tuesday, village officials didn't find out about it until late Wednesday night or early Thursday. Neff's statement said McCoy was suspended for not informing him of the incident.
McCoy's cell phone has been disconnected so he could not be reached for comment.
With the disbanding of the police force, Madison County Sheriff Jim Sabin said he has been called to temporarily take over patrol of the village. Sabin said Neff has changed the locks at Village Hall and the sheriff has taken the police department's weapons and computers just to secure them, not because they are part of any investigation.
The council will meet Monday night to decide its next steps, Anderson said.
The police force has been under fire for some time. Council disbanded the department in August, saying the force had been mismanaged and there was not enough money to make payroll.
But they kept McCoy on as chief. Then, private donations allowed some officers to come back part-time in September.
Copyright 2012 - The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
