The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of correctional officer Catherine Thompson after she was accused of striking an inmate multiple times who was bound by both her hands and feet in cuffs.
Undersheriff Pat Ivey addressed the media at 3:15 on Thursday referencing an incident on June 29 where an arrestee was allegedly hit multiple times by the correctional officer.
The incident was reported by a correctional officer who witnessed the event the same day the event occurred. According to police, the arrestee was in the jail for driving on a suspended license. The arrestee and the correctional officer Thompson exchanged some "disparaging comments."
The arrestee was put into four-point restraints where both her hands and feet were cuffed, with a chain connecting the two sets of cuffs.
While the arrestee was in the restraints, the officer and victim got into another argument where the officer struck her in the face and knocked her to the ground, she followed her to the ground and continued to strike her.
Officer Thompson had been with the Sheriff's Office for just 14 months and was still on probation. She has been terminated, arrested, and charged with battery and official misconduct for writing an allegedly false report of the incident.
Thompson is the 4th JSO employee to be arrested in 2018.