“Ridiculous and Unacceptable”: Guards Sacked from Ohio Jail for Wrestling Matches with Prisoners
by Jo Ellen Nott
On July 21, 2022, at 11:30 p.m., surveillance cameras in a day room at Ohio’s Fairfield County Jail captured an unusual sight: Friendly wrestling matches were taking place between prisoners and two guards, while a third looked on. Another Sheriff’s deputy who does not work as a guard at the lockup also went to the mat in the fracas.
Calling his employees’ behavior “ridiculous and unacceptable,” Sheriff Alex Lape suspended Deputy Shawn Pettet, 27, as well as guards Landon Talbott, 20, and Kyle Archibald, 28. The guard who was a spectator, Kayla Doss, 20, reported the incident to her supervisor five days later. For that delay, she was placed on administrative leave without pay for ten days, though the sanction will not be served consecutively.
Lape also presented the case to the office of Fairfield County Prosecutor Kyle Witt, who declined to press charges. Lape then began an internal investigation, and after that wrapped up on September 16, 2022, disciplinary hearings were scheduled for the employees.
Archibald and Pettet resigned before their hearings could be held. Following his hearing, Talbot was fired. The nephew of Lape’s Chief Deputy Jim Gilbert, he has reportedly filed a grievance with the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.
Jail prisoners and detainees who participated or watched were not disciplined because the Sheriff’s office found they did not violate jail rules. One allegedly reported the matches were “purely consensual” and that prisoners and staff even shook hands and hugged afterward.
Lape pointed out the obvious dangers of allowing prisoners to wrestle with guards. The matches took place on a cement floor with no mats or padding, so any of the participants could have been injured, possibly resulting also in litigation against the county. “It’s pretty obvious you can see how that could have gone bad in 100 different ways,” Lape said.
The Sheriff also noted the potential danger in having four unrestrained prisoners in the day room. Jail staff could have been assaulted at a minimum. In the worst-case scenario, the prisoners could have taken over the jail.
“In 30 years I thought I’d seen just about everything,” he said. “I saw that video and I said you’ve got to be kidding.”
Sources: Lancaster Eagle Gazette, The Sussi Report, WJW
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