WBRZ - Baton Rouge

METAIRIE-The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office has arrested a jailer for alleging punching an inmate at the parish prison.

Col. John Fortunato, Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office spokesman, says in a news release that 21-year-old Jimmy Brown of Metairie has been charged with one count each of simple battery and malfeasance in office.

Fortunato says Brown, who had been with the department since February 2011, was fired by Sheriff Newell Normand. Fortunato says an inmate alleged in a complaint that Brown struck him several times without any physical provocation during a routine roll check.

The inmate reported that he and Brown exchanged words on an earlier date. Fortunato says the department's criminal investigation bureau investigated the complaint.