Chief says resignation not over Taser case

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MOUNT STERLING, Ohio, March 13 (UPI) -- An Ohio police chief put on leave after he failed to tell the mayor of an officer using a Taser on a 9-year-old boy has said he will resign.

But Mike McCoy, the chief of the police department in the Columbus-area village of Mount Sterling, said his resignation was unrelated to the incident, in which one of his officers shocked the boy twice with a Taser, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

McCoy was placed on paid leave last week after he failed to tell Mount Sterling Mayor Charlie Neff of the Taser incident.

McCoy said a shrinking budget prevents him from doing his job.

Neff said lawyers are working on a separation agreement and the village council would formally accept McCoy's resignation from the $49,900-a-year job at its meeting in two weeks.

The entire part-time police force in the village has been disbanded for now and the Madison County sheriff's office will patrol the village. The Dispatch said there was no discussion of hiring a new chief or bringing back officers.

Police said the 9-year-old, Jared Perry, was shocked with a Taser twice by Officer Scott O'Neil, who came to the boy's house over his truancy last Tuesday morning.

A police report said Jared -- who weighs 200-250 pounds and stands 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-8 -- refused to cooperate with the officer and resisted arrest.

The report said after being shocked once, Jared still did not cooperate and was shocked a second time. An ambulance was called but he had no sign of injury, the Dispatch said.