Sheriff's deputy on paid leave during investigation into June 12 courtroom fight

ELYRIA — A Lorain County sheriff's deputy is on paid leave and recuperating from injuries while his superiors investigate his actions during a June 12 brawl with a criminal defendant in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. Sheriff Jack Hall said Chief Deputy Tanya Czack is doing the Sheriff's Office internal investigation into the actions of Deputy Jeff Smith. Per policy, Smith is on paid administrative leave during the investigation. He also is recovering from four cracked ribs and a fractured sternum suffered during the incident, Hall said. Andrew Davison, 42, was charged in Elyria Municipal Court with three counts of felonious assault and one count of resisting arrest, also a felony, over the brawl. Those charges have since been dismissed for further investigation and eventual presentation to a Lorain County grand jury, according to the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office. Davison was being held in Lorain County Jail pending transfer to a state prison. Smith and another deputy were working courtroom security June 12 when Judge Christopher Rothgery sentenced Davison to 10 to 15 years in prison for attempted murder. Davison stabbed another man in the face and head and slashed his tires in an incident at West Avenue and 16th Street in Elyria in June 2024. A jury found him guilty of attempted murder, felonious assault and a misdemeanor criminal damaging charge. Rothgery ordered Davison taken into custody immediately after sentencing. When deputies went to handcuff Davison, he tried to push them away, told them they'd have to kill him, told them he wasn't going to jail and told them not to touch him. Davison is 6 feet 3 inches tall and more than 300 pounds, according to Lorain County Jail records, which is taller and heavier than either of the deputies in the courtroom at the time. Elyria police Detective Sgt. Mike Walker, who is closer in size to Davison, went to assist deputies. Davison and Walker traded multiple punches in a fight captured on video. Davison ended up on the floor with Smith's arm wrapped around his head and neck as Walker straddled both of them, hitting Davison in the head. Another deputy shocked Davison with a Taser device before more help arrived, and Davison was taken into custody without further incident. Walker suffered a dislocated finger, bruises and other minor injuries, while Davison had a swollen black eye and was bleeding from the head. Both were briefly hospitalized. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com