HAMILTON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) — Jennings Fire Chief Jalon Herring is facing abuse charges after video surfaced of several Jennings firefighters assaulting a 19-year-old with autism.
Herring was arrested on Dec. 2 for abuse of a disabled adult without great harm after video of a violent incident involving a 19-year-old man with autism surfaced in September. Herring was released from the Hamilton County Jail on a $5,000 bond the same day.
The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office confirmed to ABC 27 that they received a report on Oct. 4 regarding an incident that occurred on Sept. 20.
According the HCSO, several volunteer members of the Jennings Fire Department participated in acts of violence against a 19-year-old victim, who has autism.
HCSO says there is surveillance video that shows Fire Chief Herring standing in front of the victim, both of them wearing boxing gloves.
After light taps to the gloves at the start of the video, the man rushed the victim while hitting him, causing the victim to fall to the ground. That's when the video shows the victim kicking and hitting in an attempt to get the suspect off of him.
The suspect continues hitting the victim until the video ends.
The mother of the victim says that her son has high functioning autism. That means he functions like other adults in a lot of ways but may have some under-developed social skills.
Herring has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
