CLEVELAND — A Cuyahoga County Jail officer accused of using force against a praying inmate has been suspended, according to a disciplinary document obtained by News 5 investigators.
Jail officials stated in a letter outlining Christopher Perdue’s five-day unpaid disciplinary suspension that he “engaged in unnecessary contact with the inmate” when he grabbed the inmate and lifted him off the floor on Nov. 3, 2018.
The letter states that Perdue “used an inappropriate technique to secure him and move him out of the area, lifting the inmate off the ground as your grabbed his upper torso from behind. Although the inmate was not injured, your actions could have resulted in serious injury.”
Jail investigators found that Perdue violated two rules: unnecessary contact with a jail inmate or prisoner in custody and any other act or failure to act which constitutes incompetency, inefficiency, dishonest, immoral conduct, insubordination, discourteous treatment of the public, failure of good behavior or other misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance in office.
Perdue attended a pre-disciplinary conference on Jan. 10, 2019, the letter states. On March 1, 2019, the county informed Perdue’s union, the Ohio Patrolmen Benevolent Association, that he was being suspended for five days without pay. The suspension will be in effect from March 17 to March 20 for four 12-hour shifts, amounting to a five-day, 40-hour suspension. Purdue will return to work on March 20.
