Wyandotte County fires sergeant accused of beating inmate, settles with prisoner
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, paid an inmate a $50,000 out-of-court settlement after the prisoner was allegedly beaten by a sergeant while handcuffed.
The sergeant, David Toland, was fired in February, said Wyandotte County Sheriff Donald Ash in a virtual news conference Thursday.
Ash addressed the settlement and the conclusion of an internal investigation into the incident at the jail as well as a separate incident in which a deputy was accused in a hit and run in December.
“The actions of the sheriff’s office employees involved in both these incidents are beyond disappointing to me,” Ash said. “They are disheartening and repugnant.”
In response to the incidents, he announced new policies intended to prevent similar events in the future.
Incident at detention center
Toland was criminally charged in November following a September incident in which he allegedly beat up a handcuffed inmate.
He was accused of punching the prisoner and slamming their head against an elevator door while transporting them from a drug search.
Deputy Marcus Johnson was criminally charged the same day for a separate incident that occurred in the same search, Ash said Thursday.
Both face one count of misdemeanor mistreatment of a confined person. Toland is additionally charged with aggravated battery, and Johnson is charged with misdemeanor assault.
In November, Ash announced an administrative investigation into the incident as well as a criminal investigation from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
Following the internal investigation, Toland was fired and four other employees were disciplined for their “action or inaction,” Ash said Thursday.
He said that Johnson was not fired but Ash could not say if Johnson was disciplined.
Toland and Johnson’s criminal cases are pending.
New policy
The incident at the jail, and the alleged hit and run, erode the public trust in the sheriff’s office, Ash said Wednesday.
Therefore, Ash said, the department hired an outside trainer to work with officers on use of force policy and is in the process of updating the policy and scheduling a department wide training on use of force.
“My goal is to eliminate unacceptable behavior and strengthen the public’s trust in our agency as a whole,” Ash said.
The use of force training, Ash said, was originally scheduled for April 20 but had to be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A new date has not yet been set.
The new policy, Ash said, will be similar to what is already in place but will provide for more accountability and less ambiguity.
He said he also planning to implement a new performance evaluation process that would require employees to review and acknowledge department policy on a more regular basis.
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 4:12 PM.
