Rockingham County jail officers suspended as use-of-force investigation ongoing
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Two Rockingham County jail officers suspended without pay after use-of-force incident.
- The State Bureau of Investigation opened an inquiry into the incident.
- Sheriff’s office to launch internal review; discipline depends on findings.
Two detention officers from the Rockingham County jail have been suspended without pay following an incident Monday night that left one male inmate with non-life-threatening injuries.
Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, a Republican and a candidate for state Senate, has called on the State Bureau of Investigation to look into the use of force during the incident.
The inmate was taken to a hospital and treated, and was returned to the Rockingham County Detention Center.
Capt. Jonathan Cheek, the commander of the criminal investigations division of the sheriff’s office as well as its public information officer, told The News & Observer that there will also be an internal investigation into the incident.
It is unclear what caused the inmate’s injury.
Cheek confirmed that the officers were suspended without pay. He said he couldn’t comment on the inmate’s injury because of medical privacy laws.
Page has faced scrutiny in the past over the county jail, which lost its insurance coverage in 2024 after more than 10 people died there. A county deputy is also facing a felony sex crime charge for allegedly assaulting a female inmate while she was receiving hospital treatment, WXII reported.
Cheek acknowledged the other accusations and incidents involving the jail, and said “we’ve taken steps to try to mitigate a lot of those things with new safety procedures and safety checks and whatnot.”
“The detention center is bound by procedures that are set forth by the state, and our detention center follows those to a ‘T,’” he said.
SBI spokesperson Chad Flowers said it was standard for most county sheriff’s offices across the state to get the bureau involved if there is an accusation of excessive force.
He said the investigation into Monday’s incident is just getting started.
Once the state bureau finishes its investigation and has a “good general sense of what occurred,” Flowers said, the case file will be sent to the Rockingham County sheriff’s and district attorney’s offices.
He said any criminal charges against the deputies would depend on the district attorney, and any further punishment like termination would depend on Page.
Cheek added that Page and the other captains and colonels hold the entire staff accountable for their actions.
“If they are found to violate the law in any way, shape or form, or violate policy, we handle that appropriately,” he said. “If they break the law, they’re no different from any other citizen out there.”
Page, first elected sheriff in 1998, faces a separate SBI investigation over his handling of vending-machine revenue.
Page challenged longtime Senate leader Phil Berger in the March 3 Republican primary election, and he leads Berger by 23 votes, according to county-certified results. But a recount is underway.
