CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — In a Channel 2 Action News exclusive, the Clayton County sheriff spoke about a violent incident involving a former deputy.
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Clayton County Sheriff Levon Allen says in May of last year, then-Dep. Jabin Bethea was supposed to be taking an inmate to a disciplinary unit. Things started going south when Bethea appeared to run the inmate into a door.
Seconds later, Bethea opened the door to big problems for himself, ultimately leading to termination and Bethea’s federal indictment.
Allen indicates that, for some reason, Bethea took the inmate’s handcuffs off.
“It never should have happened, and that’s just something that ultimately he would have to answer to in his day of court on why he did the actions that he did,” Allen said.
He says the incident can be seen on Bethea’s bodycam and another deputy tried to intervene and calm things down, but Bethea brushed him aside and ultimately that deputy alerted a superior
An alert that went up through the chain of command led to the sheriff contacting the FBI.
The sheriff says things got worse after they got off the elevator and Bethea then had to cope with the fact that the inmate was not wearing cuffs.
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Allen says there is no question the inmate baited Bethea with repeated profanity and repeated use of a racial slur, but a professional should be trained to expect that kind of behavior and rise above it.
The federal indictment refers to “individual 1” as a pretrial detainee at the Clayton County jail. One count says “Bethea without legal justification repeatedly Tased individual 1” and refers to resulting bodily injury.
The second count suggests Bethea wrote an incident report that falsely described his interaction with and use of force against the detainee, including stating he deployed his Taser only twice when he fired it at the detainee twice and used it to “drive stun” the detainee six times.
Channel 2 Action News pulled an online Peace Officer Standards and Training Council record, which appears to suggest that just months before Bethea started at the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office, his employment ended with DeKalb County police by being terminated.
Allen says his office had investigated what led to Bethea’s termination from the DeKalb County Police Department when CCSO hired him. The sheriff acknowledged manpower shortages and a limited pool of applicants sometimes lead to taking a chance on an officer he normally would not.
“Where we are with the pay scale compared to other departments, you know, sometimes ... the applicant pool of what you have is based on what you have to offer,” Allen said.
He says people deserve second chances, but if the federal allegations prove true, Bethea blew his second chance.
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Bethea’s lawyer, Wes Bryant, emailed Channel 2 Action News. He believes Bethea is innocent.
He said Bethea “was called to the jail to assist with and help control violent inmates who were out of control. The Clayton County jail houses inmates who are charged with the most serious and violent crimes.”
He suggested in some situations, “law enforcement officers are required to assess threats that an inmate may pose and the best method of minimize that threat. Mr. Bethea acted to gain control of a threatening situation.”
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