Brian Tellier, a 36-year-old Lorain County corrections officer, has been arrested on multiple felony charges, including allegedly causing paralysis to an inmate after slamming him into a wall and for child endangerment tied to an incident involving THC gummies. Tellier was indicted on Thursday, with charges that include felonious assault, tampering with records, tampering with evidence, and dereliction of duty, as highlighted in a recent report by FOX8.
The assault, which took place in May 2023, involved inmate Jeffrey Fry, who sustained a permanent spinal cord injury after Tellier reportedly performed a move resembling a hip-throw against him. "It looked like he attempted to do a hip-throw. From our viewpoint on it, that's why we thought it was an excessive use of force,” Sheriff Jack Hall stated, in a Cleveland19 interview. The child endangerment charges stem from a February 26 incident wherein a 6-year-old child was hospitalized after ingesting THC-laced gummies allegedly left within reach by Tellier.
Surveillance video evidence from the 2023 event had been previously uncovered by 19 Investigates, showing the alarming physical encounter between Tellier and the inmate. Lorain County Sheriff's Office suspended Tellier following their investigation after previously being allowed to work in a capacity not involving direct contact with inmates. "We've told the public all along we wanted to be transparent, we wanted to make sure we were accountable," Sheriff Hall told Cleveland19 with respect to their handling of the case.
Following the indictment, Tellier was taken to the Erie County Jail, posting a $135,000 bond on Friday, and has since been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending a hearing, according to FOX8. The first hearing in this case is scheduled for August 6. "We want to ensure our staff and inmates are held to the highest constitutional standards which resulted in the investigation of Officer Tellier’s actions with inmate Fry,” Sheriff Hall commented, which was relayed by News 5 Cleveland. Notably, Tellier is the son-in-law of Lorain County Director of Corrections Jim Gordon.
In a separate but related action, Jeffrey Fry's attorney has filed a $40 million federal lawsuit against the Lorain County Sheriff's Office, implicating the use of excessive force and violation of civil rights. The FBI had also been investigating the incident, with completed findings turned over to the prosecutor's office for review earlier in the year.
