Goodnight
Prosecutors charged a local first responder accused of battering a belligerent patient during a run last month.
Jeramy G. Goodnight, 42, of Columbus, is charged with official misconduct, a Level 6 felony, and misdemeanor battery.
The charges stem from a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office investigation into Goodnight’s behavior while responding to a car crash on Dec. 27, 2021.
Goodnight and other emergency medical services personnel were called to the scene of a car crash on County Road 650 South in the Camp Atterbury Fish and Wildlife Area. When they arrived, a male driver was being uncooperative and belligerent with deputies, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Monday in Johnson County Superior Court 3.
The man continued to be belligerent while EMS personnel loaded him into the ambulance. As a result, he hit his own head on the door of the vehicle and suffered a laceration and great deal of bleeding, according to court documents.
Once inside the ambulance, Goodnight sat down at the head of the cot while a fellow EMT tried to strap him to the cot, to restrain him so he could be treated, court documents show.
Goodnight made an improvised spit guard with an oxygen mask and tape and placed it on the patient’s mouth to prevent him from spitting on anyone, according to court documents.
The patient yelled profanities at another EMT and she yelled back, asking him to stop, according to a transcript of the incident provided in court documents.
Goodnight got involved and screamed at the patient. During the screaming match, deputies and fellow EMS personnel witnessed him apply direct pressure to the patient’s eyes, causing him pain, court documents show.
Another EMT told Goodnight to stop and to get out of the ambulance. Goodnight got out of the ambulance and continued shouting at the patient, according to court documents.
During the investigation, deputies spoke with the patient and other EMS personnel who were onsite. EMS personnel who witnessed the incident said Goodnight took action to restrain the patient, who was bleeding from his head and getting blood all over the ambulance, court documents show.
Goodnight told deputies he doesn’t remember what he said to the patient, and that he used a pressure point technique to get the patient under control. His intent was to use a pressure point on the orbital socket to temporarily immobilize the patient. However, Edinburgh EMS and fire personnel have only received one training on combative patient restraint in the two years Goodnight has worked with the agency, according to court documents.
Two law enforcement training experts spoke with deputies about whether Goodnight’s actions were appropriate. The experts said the technique would only be appropriate in a life-threatening situation where deadly force would be required. Because the patient was restrained by the time Goodnight used the technique, both agreed it was inappropriate, court documents show.
Goodnight was suspended without pay the night of the incident, and an internal investigation was launched in addition to the sheriff’s office investigation. Goodnight was fired Thursday, said Dustin Huddleston, Edinburgh’s town attorney.
“Police and fire personnel routinely deal with intoxicated or belligerent people. This individual was handcuffed and not a physical threat to the safety of anyone inside that ambulance. Part of doing this kind of job is having a thick skin and letting comments slide, and that’s exactly what should have happened here. We will now seek to hold Mr. Goodnight accountable for his alleged actions in choosing otherwise,” Prosecutor Joe Villanueva said in a news release.
