Corrections Officer Charged With Assault After Inmate Is Struck by Taser

Corrections Officer Tyler Bowman has been charged in Sidney Municipal Court with one count of assault, a first-degree misdemeanor, after investigators reviewed video they say shows him firing a Taser twice through a cell’s food pass and striking an inmate.

According to a November 10 statement announcing the charge, investigators reviewed the footage after receiving a report of excessive force on October 23. The statement says Bowman delivered a meal tray to the inmate without incident at 8:01 a.m. He returned about seven minutes later and argued with the inmate, who pushed the tray through the food pass toward him. Investigators say Bowman threw the tray to the floor, closed the opening and walked away.

The statement says Bowman returned when he heard the food pass, which he had left unlocked, open again. Investigators say the video shows Bowman drawing his Taser, putting it through the opening and firing twice, striking the inmate.

Bowman was placed on administrative leave after an internal review found he had violated the office’s use-of-force and restraint policy. The statement says county and municipal prosecutors reviewed the video and advised that the incident warranted criminal charges.

Administrative proceedings are ongoing. Bowman is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.