Wyandotte County sheriff’s officers charged in mistreatment of inmate at jail
Two Wyandotte County sheriff’s officers were charged Thursday following a September incident involving an inmate at the county jail, but officials offered few details of what happened there.
Sgt. David Toland, 47, and Deputy Marcus Johnson, 34, each face one count of misdemeanor mistreatment of a confined person. Toland is additionally charged with aggravated battery, and Johnson is charged with misdemeanor assault, according to the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office.
Donald Ash, the county’s sheriff, said in a statement Thursday that he learned of the Sept. 5 incident the following day and immediatley referred it to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
He said in a press conference Nov. 1 that the case had been turned over to prosecutors that week and that he had opened an external administrative investigation.
“As Sheriff, I hold myself and my employees to the highest moral, ethical, and legal standards. This incident does not reflect our organizational values or my personal values and I take it very seriously,” Ash said in a statement Thursday.
The District Attorney’s Office decided to serve the officers with a court summons rather than having them arrested, said David Thaxton, the Sheriff’s Office spokesman.
