Alliance police officer charged with child endangerment following incident at White House Fruit Farm
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GOSHEN TOWNSHIP -- A sergeant with the Alliance Police Department is facing potential felony charges following an incident at White House Fruit Farm on Tuesday.
Alliance Police Department Sgt. Ethan Griffith appeared for arraignment in Mahoning County Court #3 in Sebring Thursday charged with endangering a child, a second-degree felony. Griffith was released from the Mahoning County Jail Wednesday after a $25,000 cash or surety bond was posted, and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 10 a.m. Sept. 3.
The charge stems from an incident at White House Fruit Farm on Tuesday when he allegedly struck a child he was with. According to a police report and a press release issued by the Goshen Police District the juvenile "was supposedly 'acting up,'" and Griffith "began to drag the victim out to the parking lot by one arm" where the juvenile "was struck on the left side of his face near his eye hard enough to leave bruising and a mark still visible 24 hours later. The press release also states that "it was later determined that the victim was struck twice, which caused swelling, bruising and welting of the skin."
In a statement posted to the Alliance Police Department's Facebook page Wednesday, Chief Akenra X stated that Griffith had been placed on unpaid administrative leave "until further notice." Griffith was already on paid administrative leave following an incident on June 7, when he crashed his vehicle into a utility pole in Austintown and led officers on a chase before turning himself in.