We should do this more often with prisoners

INDIANAPOLIS - A court security deputy was fired and two others suspended after an inmate was left in a holding cell for more than two days without food.

The three deputies were disciplined for dereliction of duties, the Marion County Sheriff's Department said Monday.

Deputy Tucker M. Parker forgot to take James Logan back to the county jail Friday following a sentencing hearing on cocaine dealing and possession charges in Marion Superior Court, said Julio Fernandez, a spokesman for the sheriff's department.

"He completely forgot," Fernandez said. "He just forgot that the guy was in there."

Logan, 21, spent more than 48 hours in the court holding cell, a news release said. The cell had running water and a toilet, but no food was available, the sheriff's department said.

"He told me that he was going to come back and get me, but he never came back," Logan told reporters in a jailhouse interview Monday.

Logan was discovered by other officers Sunday and transferred to the jail.

"This could have been a diabetic who could have been in a coma," said Kenneth Falk, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana. "Obviously, this is a problem that should be looked into immediately."

Chief Deputy Kerry Forestal said deputies now will check each holding cell at 8 p.m. and again after 11 p.m. to make sure they are empty.

Parker was fired, Deputy Richard A. Edgemont was suspended two days and Lt. James L. Wampler was suspended 10 days, Fernandez said. Wampler also will be demoted to sergeant and transferred out of the courtroom security detail, officials said.

"Mr. Parker was really responsible to come back and move this prisoner. The other gentlemen left shift without checking with him and that's where the suspension came about," said Fernandez.

The deputies' home phone numbers were not available in published listings for Indianapolis and they could not be reached for comment Monday.

Logan was sentenced Friday to two years in jail with a recommendation that the time be served in work-release.