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3 inmates overdose at jail Friday

LISBON — Three Columbiana County jail inmates overdosed on drugs Friday night, one of whom assaulted a corrections officer after returning from being treated at a local hospital.

Chief Deputy Sheriff Allen Haueter identified the inmates as Justin Temple, John Diegdio and Jordan Gainer, all of whom lapsed into a semi-conscious state about 10 p.m. after ingesting some drugs believed smuggled into the jail. The trio were taken by ambulance to Salem Regional Medical Center, where they were treated and released later that night.

Upon his return, Gainer reportedly punched a corrections officer in the face, and during the assault the corrections officer broke his wrist and will be off work. The 28-year-old Gainer, in jail on a robbery charge, was charged with felonious assault.

While Temple was being transported to the hospital, the ambulance crew found some drugs on him that were later turned over to a deputy, resulting in Temple being charged with smuggling drugs into a detention facility.

Deputies and jail staff, using the sheriff’s drug dog Jesy, searched the facility that night but no drugs were found.

When asked to identify the drugs, Haueter said that it has yet to be determined and will not be known until test results come back. He said the investigation is also continuing into how the drugs were smuggled into the jail but they are confident the trio overdosed from the same batch of contraband.  “At any facility, it happens. There’s no way you can stop it completely,” Haueter said. “It doesn’t matter. They’ll find a way to get it in there.”

Temple and Diegdio were also in jail on robbery charges at the time of the incident.

tgiambroni@mojonews.com

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