Quick guilty verdict in assault on correction officer

LIMA — Jurors in Allen County Common Pleas Court deliberated for less than an hour Monday before finding a Lima inmate guilty of assaulting a corrections officer at the county jail.

Judge Terri Kohlrieser immediately sentenced Fernando Johnson to five years in prison on a second-degree felony charge of felonious assault.

A video taken from inside the jail in January of this year which shows Johnson attacking Corrections Officer Christian (Lee) Shafer was a key to the state’s presentation during the one-day trial in the Allen County Common Pleas Court.

Court records show that deputies from the Allen County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the jail Jan. 21 in reference to an assault that had occurred inside the jail.

Testimony on Monday from Shafer and jail nurse Sandy Bailey alleged that as medications were being distributed to inmates that morning, Johnson, 39, asked for an antibiotic cream. Bailey said she told the inmate she wouldn’t give the cream to him unless he had a cut. He was given a razor to shave with.

When Johnson became upset about not receiving the cream, Shafer testified that he asked Johnson to return the razor. The officer said Johnson replied, “I’ll do whatever the (expletive) I want with it” and threw the razor in Shafer’s face. Johnson then grappled with Shafer and struck him in the face with a closed fist, the officer told jurors.

During the fight, Johnson and Shafer fell on the floor. The defendant is seen on video footage taken inside the jail as he repeatedly hit the officer’s head against the concrete floor, rendering Shafer unconscious. Shafer also suffered a broken ankle during the scuffle, causing him have a limp and requiring metal rods and a plate in his ankle.

Before Kohlrieser sentenced Johnson, Assistant Allen County Prosecutor Cecily Stewart said Johnson had previous cocaine trafficking and possession felonies in Hancock County along with multiple misdemeanors, including resisting arrest and obstructing official business. Johnson said when the assault occurred, he was incarcerated for a probation violation.

Shafer was given an opportunity to speak and said he had to take three months off work and couldn’t put weight on his ankle for weeks. Shafer said Johnson never showed any remorse and laughed with the other inmates that he “kicked his (expletive).”

Johnson said he doesn’t feel safe around Shafer and alleged the officer had an anger problem.