MANSFIELD, Ohio–A 911 distress call was received by the Mansfield Police Department from an employee of the Volunteers of America facility located at 921 N. Main St. at 3:39 p.m on Tuesday. The staff member was requesting assistance with a combative resident.
The Volunteers of America is a facility for housing offenders transitioning from prison.
The staff member stated, “He is having a bad reaction to something and he is swinging on people and we can’t control him.” The staff member also stated, ‘He is punching the wall right now. We need someone as soon as you can get them.”
Police and medical personnel arrived to find the staff and probation officers standing back away from Terrance Moxley, 29, as he was displaying violent behavior. Moxley was violently slamming a door inside the facility, well over 200 times, and caused a clock to fall off the wall as well as a fire extinguisher, according to a report from the police department.
Moxley broke the window out of the door and damaged the steel frame. He appeared to be incoherent, and approximately 15 people were evacuated from the day room that Moxley was damaging.
According to the press release, Moxley eventually calmed down enough to be handcuffed. He was then checked out by medical personnel; however, he became increasingly agitated. According to medical personnel, Moxley was displaying abnormal behavior while talking incoherently and making strange noises. Refusing to walk, he had to be carried to a cruiser by his arms and legs in order to be transported to the hospital for treatment.
Moxley then became combative while resisting and attempted to break free from the officers’ grip. He also attempted to bite the officers. Officers were unable to get him into the cruiser, and Moxley was tased by officers as they attempted to gain control of him. Two taser cartridges were expended.
One officer was inadvertently tased during the struggle. It appears that at some point Moxley broke free from the handcuffs and officers wrestled to regain control of him. Officers then observed that Moxley was in medical distress and he was taken to Ohio Health MedCentral hospital by on-scene medical personnel.
Moxley was later pronounced dead. The Richland County Coroner’s Office, prosecutor’s office, and Bureau of Criminal Investigationwere all notified. The investigation has been turned over to BCI agents.
All officers at the scene of the incident were placed on administrative leave per Mansfield Police policy. The officers placed on leave were Ptl. Shane Gearhart, Ptl. Paul Webb, Ptl. Steven Hornback, Ptl. James Reed, and Ptl. Orlando Chatman. The 911 call, officers’ tasers, and video from the facility were held for the investigation.
According to the Ohio Bureau of Rehabilitation and Corrections, Moxley was convicted of two counts of drug trafficking in 2014 and sentenced to 1 year in prison. Moxley served four months in Belmont Correctional Institution then was released and sentenced to six months of post-release control.
