By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — A Warsaw man has been sentenced to five years in prison for punching a Kosciusko County jail officer.

Danny Tyler Combs, 21, Warsaw, was charged with battery (bodily injury to a public safety official), a Level 5 felony, with habitual offender enhancement.

Danny Tyler Combs

He was sentenced in Kosciusko Superior Court 1 on Monday, Feb. 7.

Regarding the case, on Sept. 20, 2021, the jail officer was picking up food trays from inmates. He opened Combs’ cell door to get his tray.

The officer and Combs knew each other due to having interactions with each other while Combs was an inmate at the jail.

Combs handed his tray to the jail trustee collecting the trays. He told the officer, “Here, I got something for you.”

Combs then punched the officer in the face with both his fists. The officer tried to restrain Combs and then deployed his Taser, which allowed him to handcuff Combs. The officer received a neck abrasion, a cut on his jaw and bloody lips.

Kosciusko Superior Court 1 Judge Karin McGrath sentenced Combs to three years in the Indiana prison system for the battery and two additional years for the habitual offender enhancement. Those will run consecutively.

She also gave Combs’ 24 days of jail credit for the case.

Combs’ lead attorney Dana Leon asked McGrath if he could be involved in Recovery While Incarcerated (RWI) while serving his sentence, which could potentially shorten his prison time.

McGrath opted to let the Indiana Department of Correction decide whether Combs should be in that program. She said that was based upon the fact that Combs committed the battery while he was in the jail.

McGrath scolded Combs, saying his behavior was “not to be taken lightly.”

“It’s not acceptable, not funny, not cool,” she said.