Lucas County OKs $7,000 settlement to ex-inmate

Man claims he was hurt as officers restrained him

5/1/2014

Lucas County commissioners have unanimously approved a $7,000 settlement to a former jail inmate who claimed he was injured while in county custody.

The settlement, approved on Tuesday, was in response to a suit filed on behalf of Kevin Holcomb in March, 2013, in U.S. District Court, against the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office, then-Sheriff James Telb, five unnamed corrections officers, and the state.

The suit states that on March 26, 2012, Holcomb was speaking on a Lucas County jail telephone while sitting on a mop bucket when a corrections officer arrived to retrieve the bucket.

Holcomb reportedly began to “speak disrespectfully” when the officer took the bucket, and the corrections officer reported feeling a push on her back, according to a background summary provided by John Borell, a Lucas County assistant prosecutor. The corrections officer thought Holcomb was attacking her and grabbed the inmate to restrain him, according to Mr. Borell’s statement.

Holcomb reportedly resisted, causing several corrections officers to restrain him.

Holcomb’s resistance was presented to a sheriff’s internal disciplinary board, and he was found guilty of assault on others, threatening others, and threatening corrections security, for which he was sentenced to two days of isolation and five days of “moderate rest.”

Holcomb was treated for back and hip pain the day of the incident, which he alleged was caused by injuries from the officers restraining him. Officials said “very minimal” medical treatment generated no medical bills.