By Katie Wedell and Allison Wichie
Dayton Daily News
DAYTON, Ohio — A probation officer at the center of an investigation has no previous disciplinary problems, according to the juvenile court judge.
The family of Kaeleb Temple, 16, of Springfield, filed a complaint that Officer Jordan Bean used excessive force when he arrested the boy for a parole violation on Monday.
The teen was charged with felony assault on a police officer and is accused of kicking, biting and spitting on Bean.
Temple’s family have filed the complaint after they saw a cell phone video of the arrest. Witnesses at the arrest scene started to shoot the video after they said Bean allegedly threw Temple to the ground as he tried to handcuff him, according to the teen’s brother Seth Biles.
“We’re disgusted,” Biles said.
The video given to the Springfield News-Sun appears to show Temple and the officer struggling near a van with the teen resisting and then eventually being forcibly placed inside the vehicle.
The court handles a handful of complaints every year from parents and guardians who have issues with the court, but has investigated very few complaints about excessive force, Juvenile Court Judge Joseph Monnin said.
Bean told police Temple resisted multiple times while the officer attempted to put the teen in handcuffs. Once in the cuffs, the teen then bit the probation officer, spat blood at him and kicked him in the head, according to the police report.
Bean has been an officer with the juvenile court for four or five years, Judge Joseph Monnin said, and has had no previous disciplinary problems. He hasn’t been placed on leave.
Probation officers apprehend juveniles on a daily basis, he said, and are authorized to use force when appropriate, just like any other law enforcement officer.
“We don’t take kids into custody unless there’s just cause and we try to do it as peacefully and appropriately as we can,” Monnin said.
The teen pleaded not guilty to the felony assault charge and was ordered to remain at the detention center.
Temple’s father, John Temple, said he needs to find a lawyer for his son.
“Right now we’re just working to get him out,” John Temple said, and he is worried his son needs further medical tests to make sure he didn’t sustain any serious injuries.
Biles wasn’t at the arrest scene but after seeing the video said he wants Bean to have his badge taken away. The arrest was “excessive,” Biles said, and he was upset an adult would “manhandle” a 16-year-old boy.
Monnin said this type of complaint against a probation officer is rare.
“Maybe one or two in the 20 years I’ve been here,” he said. “We investigate them and find out what’s going on. And if an employee needs to be disciplined and retrained we do that. If there’s nothing to it, we tell the family that’s our finding.”
Other parents whose children have had Bean as a parole officer said he is strict, but fair. Brandi Turner saw the video online Tuesday and said she was upset Bean was put in a bad light.
“Mr. Bean tells them all the time, ‘Don’t put up a fight, everything’s good’ — but the boy put up a fight,” she said.