While a woman was restrained, a sheriff’s deputy hit her, authorities say

An Ohio couple and their two children were traveling through Monroe County last year when the husband stopped the car.

He called the cops on his wife, who, he told a sheriff’s deputy, was drinking and covering his eyes while he was trying to drive.

The woman was arrested. While she was handcuffed and restrained at the jail, the deputy hit her, authorities say.

A grand jury indicted Monroe County sheriff’s Sgt. William H. Jackson on Wednesday on charges of simple battery, battery and violation of oath by public officer.

Jackson is accused of striking the 31-year-old woman on the head and neck with his elbow on July 16, 2016, according to the indictment. He also is accused of hitting her on the back of the shoulder and in the face with his hand.

The woman had bleeding and swelling to her nose as a result, the indictment states.

About about 7:30 p.m. that night, Jackson was dispatched to an Exxon gas station on Harold G. Clarke Parkway. The couple had been traveling from Florida when the husband pulled over.

He told Jackson his wife had been drinking alcohol inside the car, and when he asked her to stop, she became irate, according to the incident report.

The husband also told Jackson his wife had marijuana in her suitcase, which Jackson found, but the woman denied it was hers, the report states.

Jackson arrested the woman and brought her to the jail, where he says she became “unruly,” according to the report. Jackson wrote that she attempted to head butt and kick him. He says he pushed her against the wall, and she attempted to spit on him.

The woman was placed in restraints. While being put in the device, she spit and kicked, the report states.

Jackson hit the woman while she was handcuffed and restrained, said Jonathan Adams, district attorney for the Towaliga Judicial Circuit, which includes Monroe County.

Sheriff’s officials said they discovered Jackson hitting her after reviewing video footage in September, according to a release from the district attorney’s office. Sheriff John Cary Bittick began an internal investigation and placed Jackson on administrative leave. The investigation was turned over the the GBI and then the district attorney’s office in January.

Jackson, a 14-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, has no prior complaints against him regarding his use of force and no prior disciplinary action, the release states.

“Sheriff Bittick and I are committed to transparency and accountability in the performance of our duties and those of our personnel,” Adams said in the release. “This is proven by the sheriff’s swift and thorough investigation and handling of this issue, and I will do so by prosecuting this case.

“I also want to be clear that this is an isolated incident in what is an otherwise outstanding department where outstanding deputies and employees work hard every day to keep our families safe.”

The woman was charged with reckless conduct, open container violation, littering, possession of marijuana less than one ounce and obstruction, according to the report. Those charges have yet to go before a grand jury, Adams said.

As of Thursday evening, Monroe County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Lawson Bittick said Jackson was still on administrative leave .

William H. Turner, who was listed as Jackson’s attorney on the indictment, did not return a phone call for comment.

Jonathan Adams, district attorney for the Towaliga Judicial Circuit, which includes Monroe County, did not return a phone call for comment.

This story was originally published March 16, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "While a woman was restrained, a sheriff’s deputy hit her, authorities say."