Ex-public safety officer charged with assaulting juvenile mental health patient, cops say

A former public safety officer was arrested on multiple charges after recently attacking a sedated and semi-restrained juvenile patient at a mental health facility in Columbia, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said Wednesday.

Vincent Nocera, a 38-year-old West Columbia resident, was charged with third-degree assault and battery in addition to misconduct in office on June 2, SLED said in a news release.

The violent incident happened on Jan. 31 at the South Carolina Department of Mental Health’s William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute, according to arrest warrants shared by SLED. The facility is at 220 Faison Drive, in the area between exits 71 and 72 on Interstate 20.

Nocera and other officers assisted medical staff who gave the juvenile patient sedative injections, the arrest warrants said. After medications were administered, the officers began to release the juvenile from their control, and the patient began to kick, according to the arrest warrants.

Nocera responded to the kicking by using “excessive force and delivered four closed-fist punches” to the juvenile patient’s calf area, the arrest warrants said.

Nearby officers intervened and pushed Nocera to the ground, followed by Nocera screaming obscenities directed at the juvenile patient before being escorted from the room by a supervisor, according to the arrest warrants.

The arrest warrants said the attack caused “physical harm” to the juvenile, but further information on the patient’s condition was not available.

The attack was recorded by cameras at the facility as well as body-worn cameras on the other officers, according to the arrest warrants.

Following his arrest, Nocera was booked at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, SLED said. Nocera is not currently listed on the jail’s inmate roster, and there was no word on a bond.

The South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy said Nocera was terminated, WIS reported.

The case will be prosecuted by the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

If convicted on the misdemeanor third-degree assault and battery charge, Nocera faces a maximum punishment of 30 days in jail and a $500 fine, according to South Carolina law. A conviction on the misconduct in office charge could mean a maximum sentence of a year in prison and a $1,000 fine, per South Carolina law.

According to the S.C. Department of Mental Health, the William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute focuses on the “needs of children and adolescents with mental illness and substance abuse disorders, providing both inpatient and outpatient treatment.”