Lee County Jail Incident Leads to Correctional Officer’s Dismissal and Assault Charges – CNAW 2 with Colin Scroggins

An incident at the Lee County Jail resulted in the firing of a correctional officer and assault charges.

Officers with the Lee County Sheriff’s Department of Corrections were collecting laundry from inmates in the F Wing of the jail on June 22, 2024, when one of the inmates escaped from his cell, ran past the officers and walked down the cell block.

“Correctional staff pursued the inmate and were able to take him back into custody after deploying a taser. The inmate was then handcuffed and placed on the ground where he continued to struggle with correctional staff,” the sheriff’s office said. “During the struggle on the ground to get the inmate to comply, a correctional officer struck him in the face with his fist.”

The detainee was examined by the detention center’s medical staff. It was determined that the detainee had a swollen lip but no other injuries.

“An investigation was conducted into the correctional officer’s use of force and it was determined that agency policy was violated,” they added. “The correctional officer was terminated on June 24.”

An arrest warrant for assault was issued for 30-year-old former Deputy Correctional Officer Dalton J. Dunlap and served on June 28. He posted bail and was released.

Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones stated, “Our employees are required to adhere to a professional code of conduct in all their actions. The conduct exhibited in this case is a clear violation of the department’s professional code of conduct and established policy and will not be tolerated.”