An Ohio sheriff's deputy was fired for making jail inmates dance for microwave privileges, officials say.
Deputy Dominic Martucci, 35, was fired earlier this week for violating the department's policies, including treating inmates humanely, after an internal investigation, released Wednesday, found Martucci made five inmates at a county jail dance to regain their use of a microwave April 11, the Akron Beacon-Journal reported.
The incident was reported by an inmate in a memo to a sergeant sent days later.
Martucci "told the inmates that if they wanted out of lock up and the microwave back, that they would have to dance for him," an internal affair report noted. "He let out the [five inmates] and told them to entertain him by dancing."
The inmates had apparently lost their microwave privileges earlier in the day.
At one point, Martucci had other officers watch the dance.
"Stop and watch this, it's going to be funny," he said, the internal report stated.
Martucci was fired on charges of mistreating the inmates, misconduct and having a cellphone -- which he used to play music for the inmates to dance to -- in the jail.
Martucci told investigators he knew his actions were wrong but did it to "lighten the tension" in the jail pod.
"The community needs to be assured that all inmates that come [through] the doors of the Summit County Jail will be treated humanely and with respect," said sheriff's spokesman Bill Holland. "All allegations to the contrary are thoroughly investigated. Any member of our agency that does not share this philosophy will be disciplined accordingly."
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