MOUNT VERNON — Former Danville police officer Thomas L. Looney, indicted in 2010 on charges of grand theft and receiving stolen property, had his bond reduced from $100,000 to a personal recognizance bond last week and has since been a patient at The Ohio State University Medical Center.
As the result of the motion filed by defense attorney Bruce Malek, and granted Aug. 25 by Knox County Common Pleas Court Judge Otho Eyster, Looney signed the bond on Friday and was transported to Ohio State University Medical Center. He was being treated for MRSA, which is a contagious staph infection that is resistant to many antibiotics. The hospital said no person by that name was listed at the facility Wednesday, which indicated he had been released.
He was receiving kidney dialysis in treating the infection, Malek said in the request.
While in custody, the county is responsible for a prisoner’s medical treatment, Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher explained. However, once he was released on the recognizance bond, the county’s responsibility ended.
By freeing Looney, the county also did not have to send deputies to stay at the hospital while Looney was being treated.
Malek initially filed a request for a reduction in bond on Aug. 10. In a memorandum attached to that request, he noted that Looney had been incarcerated since July 27 and had a blood disorder (MRSA) that “requires testing and doctor appointments.”
He said that if released on the recognizance bond, Looney would be living in Fredericktown with his mother.
The initial reduction request was opposed in a reply filed by Assistant Prosecutor Attorney Jennifer Springer, who noted various addresses, locally and in Georgia, Looney had used in the past, how he had failed to turn himself in after the indictment and had to be arrested by Fredericktown police more than a year after his indictment.
An amended motion for bond reduction was field Aug. 25, but this time Malek added that the state concurred.
This time he also added that Looney was receiving dialysis in his treatments for the infection.
When contacted, Malek refused to comment on the case.
Looney’s trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 4 in Knox County Common Pleas Court.
