By Cory Shaffer
The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND — A former guard in the Cuyahoga County Jail made his first appearance in court as a defendant on Thursday when he pleaded not guilty to attacking an inmate.
Charles Enoch, 40, is charged with first-degree misdemeanor assault in the November 2018 attack of an inmate with a mental illness.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Steven Gall imposed a $1,500 personal bond on Enoch, who is represented by Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association attorney Adam Chaloupka.
The case was randomly assigned to Judge Sherrie Miday, who will hold an Oct. 19 pre-trial hearing.
Enoch was charged in September by way of an information rather than an indictment, which generally indicates that a defendant has agreed to plead guilty.
Jasper Muldrow said Enoch struck him “without provocation” during a confrontation that started over Muldrow singing in a common area, according to court filings.
Enoch wrote in a report of the incident that Muldrow tried to hit him. Security video from the jail showed that Enoch struck Muldrow first, and then shoved him back and continued striking him. Muldrow began to swing back at Enoch.
Enoch put Muldrow in an “unauthorized chokehold” and took him to the ground, according to sheriff’s department records. Other guards showed up for backup, and one sprayed Muldrow with pepper foam.
Jail staff took Muldrow to MetroHealth with a broken arm, but investigators noted that Muldrow had been involved in a separate fight prior to his encounter with the guard, according to court records.
The county suspended Enoch 20 days without pay after the incident. Enoch later resigned.
The case is the most recent in the Ohio Attorney General’s Office’s long-running investigation into abuses in the jail. Special prosecutors have obtained guilty pleas from a former warden and several officers in multiple cases of abuse on inmate. Several more jail officers face current charges, including former jail director Ken Mills.
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