Man forgotten in Indiana jail cell for 12 hours

[October 29, 2009]  ELKHART, Ind. (AP) -- Guards at a northern Indiana jail face disciplinary action and will receive additional training after a man was accidentally trapped inside a cell for 12 hours.

Elkhart County Sheriff Mike Books said officers and supervisors on the jail's first and second shifts "failed to account" for 40-year-old Scott Roberts and that their actions were unacceptable.

The department did not say what discipline staff members faced.

Roberts said he was doing community service work on Saturday when a mop bucket propping open a cell door spilled and the door slammed shut. He wasn't released until after family members arrived at the jail looking for him about 10:30 p.m.

[Associated Press]

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