Delaware County Jail officer placed on leave after apprehension incident

Video Provided, @bbyygrill

A Delaware County Jail officer has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation after an apprehension Tuesday morning.

The leave comes after a video was posted on Twitter showing the incident. 

Deputy Joe Krupa, public information officer for the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, said the officer, Jerry Shaner, was working at the jail when he received a call saying someone was breaking into his house.

Deputy Krupa said the officer was not wearing a body camera at the time of the incident. 

In the video, you can see the officer holding a man, who his family identifies as Kenneth Watson, at gunpoint on the ground. The Twitter user said the incident happened on Tillotson Avenue on Muncie's westside. 

The officer can be heard telling Watson he "picked the wrong f*****g house to get into." Watson, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, denied the accusation and the officer yells at him to stay on the ground. 

"You move and your brains are going to be all over this f*****g pavement," the officer later said to Watson. 

When a Muncie Police officer arrives to assist, the officer tells Watson, “You move, you die!”

According to a press release from the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, the office is, “taking this matter seriously and will gather all relevant facts before making any determination or further statements.”

The Sheriff’s Office said they reached out to the Indiana State Police to conduct an investigation to see if any criminal charges need to be filed. 

Indiana State Police have confirmed that they have been asked by Sheriff Ray Dudley to conduct an investigation.

This story will be updated

Contact Andrew Smith with comments at ajsmith15@bsu.edu and on Twitter at @AndrewSmithNews or Max Lewis with comments at lmaxwell2@bsu.edu and on Twitter at @MaxLewisReports.

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