Sheriff Jack Hall suspends corrections officer who allegedly abused, injured inmate in May 2023

Newly elected Lorain County Sheriff Jack Hall has suspended Brian Tellier, a corrections officer at the Lorain County Jail who was caught on video allegedly abusing an inmate in May 2023. That inmate, Jeff Fry, has filed a $40 million lawsuit against Lorain County over his treatment at the jail and injuries his attorneys have said continue to affect him. The case is pending in U.S. District Court in Cleveland before Judge Bridget Meehan Brennan. More than 600 days after the inciting incident, Tellier is now on paid administrative leave, Hall said. Tellier became "my responsibility on day one" of his tenure as sheriff, Hall said Tuesday, "and we have this lawsuit facing the department. We just want to make sure we do the right thing for the right reasons." Inspector Ryan Kolegar, a new staff member Hall has dubbed his "corrections inspector general," is reinvestigating the incident. He will report his findings to Anthony Nici, an attorney and Hall's new director of legal affairs at the Sheriff's Office. Nici is a former police officer and defense attorney who has both defended police officers in court in the past as well as been critical of alleged police misconduct. Kolegar will "take a fresh look from the beginning and either clear the allegations or confirm the allegations against Officer Tellier. We didn't want to do that with an old investigation investigation so we decided we would do that" with a new one, Hall said. Tellier was patting down Fry for contraband on May 12, 2023, at the jail following his arrest by Elyria police when Fry, whom deputies said was intoxicated and agitated, allegedly acted out. When Fry allegedly tried to pull away from Tellier as he was being led to a full-body scanner for a search, Tellier claimed he "guided" Fry to the floor. Video shows otherwise, and Fry's attorneys allege Tellier shoved Fry headfirst into a wall, damaging his spinal cord. Fry appeared seriously injured, but video of his care after the incident showed multiple corrections officers and the two paramedics attempting to load Fry onto a stretcher. He was first placed face down and half on, half off a stretcher without his head, neck or back immobilized. Fry was then lifted by the legs and arms again, before Tellier flipped him over onto his back on the stretcher. Fry was transported to University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center. At no point did any jail or medical personnel immobilize his neck, head or back, according to video of the incident. An internal investigation concluded that Tellier violated official Sheriff's Office policies by falsifying a report of his version of the incident. Tellier broke rules against "falsifying or assisting in falsifying any county record" and "physical mistreatment of a prisoner in an officer's custody or control," and two corrections supervisors found the force he used against Fry to be inappropriate and excessive, according to Lt. Mike Crum's report. "The documents written by Officer Tellier don't accurately depict the use of force when compared to the video of the incident," Crum wrote in his report. Tellier also "was misleading when he verbally reported the incident to his supervisor," Crum wrote. Then-Sheriff Phil Stammitti didn't suspend Tellier, and he remained on duty without restrictions but also without contact with inmates. Stammitti previously said he didn't think Tellier had any malicious intent against Fry. The FBI was notified, and at one time was investigating the incident as a possible civil rights violation. A message seeking comment was left for an FBI spokesperson. Hall said Tuesday that he was keeping Jail Administrator Jim Gordon, who is Tellier's father-in-law, on his staff at the rank of major. Indeed, Gordon's role at the Sheriff's Office is being expanded to include oversight of civil process/document service and courthouse security. Hall said he had "a pretty significant conversation" with Gordon about the matter. Going forward, the Sheriff's Office won't be engaging in nepotism — giving family or friends of employees preference when seeking jobs. "After winning the election, I got phone calls from those same types of people, and I said 'We're not doing that anymore,'" Hall said. It has meant shifting some people at the Sheriff's Office into other roles, he said. "If someone is in the pipeline or was in the process of being hired" and had a relative already working at the Sheriff's Office, Hall said, "if that hiring process started in the prior administration, we're not going to hold that against anyone." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.