Where's Sheriff Sheldon?

MANSFIELD — A sheriff is ignoring public records requests sent to him after one of his employees was indicted Dec. 16 on a reckless homicide charge related to the death of an inmate at the Richland County Jail three years ago. Richland County Sheriff Steve Sheldon at a news conference. Register file photo/LUKE WARK Richland County Sheriff Steve Sheldon has provided no public comment since one of his corrections officers, Mark Cooper, was arrested and charged in the death of Alex Rios, 28, in September 2019. Cooper was one of five guards who attempted to subdue Rios after he ran from a holding cell into a booking area at the jail. A Richland County grand jury indicted Cooper. In a jail surveillance video, the guards tackled Rios, held him on the floor and repeatedly punched him in the head and groin. They electroshocked him with a Taser weapon. Cooper, in the surveillance video, can be seen appearing to stand with his full weight on Rios' back near his neck in the 5½-minute video. The Register made two public records requests to Sheldon in December, asking for any disciplinary records the sheriff's office has for Cooper. It renewed the request this morning. No response has been received from Sheldon.