PALM COAST, FL - A Flagler County sheriff's deputy indicted on inmate abuse charges has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the incident by an internal review.

John O'Keefe, 40, was one of five deputies charged with abuse of a disabled adult by a Flagler County grand jury Wednesday. The charges are part of an investigation of use of force by deputies assigned to the Flagler County Inmate Facility by State Attorney John Tanner.

Samuel Ferris, 38, Anthony Allen Buendo, 45, Louis Joseph Miceli, 43, and Brian Pasquariello, 28, are also charged with abuse of a disabled adult in a separate incident.

Pasquariello is also facing charges of false imprisonment and culpable negligence by a separate grand jury -- convened by special prosecutor Jerry Hill of the 10th Judicial Circuit in Polk County -- for his role in restraining the state attorney's daughter Lisa Tanner. She was twice strapped into a restraint chair after her March 2005 arrest in Flagler Beach.

The grand jury said in its indictment that O'Keefe unlawfully touched, battered and struck Edward B. Driskell on his head or body on Oct. 23, 2004.

In a document recounting the Driskell incident obtained by The Daytona Beach News-Journal through a public records request, O'Keefe described attempting to restrain Driskell, who would not comply with orders to stop shouting obscenities. At one point, Driskell pulled "violently" away from O'Keefe, which caused O'Keefe to hit his head on a steel staircase.

O'Keefe then "guided" Driskell to the floor. When the inmate refused orders to put his hands behind his back, O'Keefe struck Driskell twice before another deputy arrived to help restrain him.

Driskell was treated and released from Florida Hospital Flagler after the incident, according to the report. Driskell filed a complaint a couple of days after the incident claiming O'Keefe beat him.

But an internal review of the incident in November 2004 found that O'Keefe followed protocol and cleared the deputy of any wrongdoing.

"After a review of the incident, no internal investigation is warranted," said then-Chief Deputy David O'Brien.

The indictment charging Ferris, Buendo, Miceli and Pasquariello stated the four unnecessarily touched, battered and restrained Eric Emanuel on Feb. 27, 2005.

According to a use of force report filed by Ferris, a sergeant, and obtained by The Daytona Beach News-Journal on Thursday, Emanuel was strapped to a restraint chair after he began pounding on the door of his cell and making threats toward deputies. After an hour, Emanuel was removed from the chair, the report said.
The grand jury's indictments say both Driskell and Emanuel are disabled, but do not specify the nature of their disabilities.