A Knox County correctional officer was fired after crashing a brand-new prisoner transport van into a fence at the county jail.
Sheriff Tom Spangler said Monday he dismissed the young man, an employee a little more than a year, after an internal investigation. The man's name was not released Monday.
“I’m just not going to let people go out there and destroy county property and act like an idiot,” Spangler said.
The driver was unhurt. He was by himself, the sheriff said.
Spangler said he was notified about 3 a.m. Sunday about the incident.
The correctional officer ploughed into a fence at the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility, the main jail in the county system off Maloneyville Road.
The department had just acquired the van. KCSO routinely picks up and transports people accused of crimes.
The van sustained "several thousand dollars" in damage, according to Spangler.
The employee passed a couple field sobriety tests. Authorities didn't detect the odor of alcohol on him.
The man said he'd consumed drinks hours before his shift started.
Staff were instructed to take him home, and an investigation was conducted, the sheriff said.
“I fired the young man,” Spangler said.
The sheriff also said the vast majority of people who work at the Sheriff's Office do a good job and represent the public well.
"And every once in a while somebody does something they shouldn’t do," he said.
Spangler said residents expect him to hold personnel to a higher standard – and he said he will do that.