Jail deputy fired after video shows excessive force used against inmate, sheriff says
A former deputy who worked at the Manatee County jail was fired after he assaulted and beat an inmate, which was captured on video surveillance footage, according to an internal affairs investigation by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
Corrections deputy Tyler LeMond claimed that Jorge Ixcoy Ajanel grabbed his arm and tried to pull LeMond toward him when the deputy opened his cell. Once inside the cell, LeMond claimed that he was trying to secure Ajanel so that he could put him in handcuffs and shackles, but that Ajanel resisted and tried grabbing him again.
But that is not what video surveillance footage from the jail shows, some of which was released to the public on Thursday.
The video footage from a camera inside the cell shows LeMond coming in and immediately shoving Ajanel to the ground. In the 42 seconds that follow, LeMond knees Ajanel eight times, punches him and stomps on him.
Ajanel, who was in a padded cell in the medical unit detoxing and was in jail on non-violent charges, never showed any signs of aggression.
LeMond, 21, was fired on April 24 after the internal affairs investigation concluded that his excessive use of force was unwarranted and unreasonable. The sustained findings in the investigation found that the use of force was conduct unbecoming a deputy and unlawful.
The State Attorney’s Office is considering whether to file formal criminal charges against LeMond after receiving a capias request from the sheriff’s office on April 16 recommending that he be charged with battery.
“There is no place for this type of behavior in law enforcement. It will not be tolerated at the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff Rick Wells said in a news release.
Ajanel never filed a complaint, but the sheriff’s office launched its internal investigation after LeMond’s supervisors watched video of the incident.
“From my point of view that was all necessary and justified,” LeMond told an internal affairs investigator, even after watching the video footage again.
The former deputy claimed he had been pre-warned that Ajanel had acted out during the previous shift, but the internal affairs investigation didn’t find that to be the case.
This is not the first use-of-force incident that LeMond had been involved with, according to sheriff’s office records. But none of the 20 incidents reported involving LeMond dating to August 2017 resulted in discipline.
Of the 20 incidents, nine occurred this year. But 20 incidents of use of force is not considered high for corrections deputies, given the nature of their jobs, according to sheriff’s office spokesman Randy Warren.
Forceful backwards shoves, exaggerated knee strikes and stomps are not techniques that are taught by the sheriff’s office or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the internal affairs report pointed out.
LeMond, who was hired in March 2017, had never been disciplined before being fired last month, according to his personnel file.
Ajanel was arrested March 25 after a deputy found him standing in front of Sun Plaza East, 5681 15th St. E. in Bradenton, after having been trespassed from the shopping center days prior. He was charged with trespassing, as well as failing to appear in court for another trespassing charge.
This story was originally published May 2, 2019 at 12:25 PM.