Man accused of luring, attacking CPD officer punched another cop in ‘22 court records say

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - The man accused of luring Cincinnati police to his home and assaulting an officer on Tuesday hit another law enforcement member once before, according to his record.

Jermykle Williams, 19, is being held in the Hamilton County Detention Center on a $1.1 million bond on several charges, the arrest report from Tuesday says. He had his arraignment hearing on Wednesday morning.

According to his juvenile records, Williams punched a police officer and a 53-year-old man in February 2022. The officer was trying to arrest him at the time, the documents state.

At the time, Williams was ordered to continue the counseling sessions he had been attending and to take daily medication as prescribed by physicians for mental health issues, the records read.

On Tuesday, Cincinnati District 3 officers were dispatched to a residence for a report of an aggravated robbery, according to Sgt. Anthony Mitchell.

When police arrived, Williams attacked one officer and punched him several times in the face “causing visible injury,” Sgt. Mitchell explained.

In court on Wednesday, nearly a dozen Cincinnati police officers showed up to stand in solidarity with their co-worker who needed medical treatment after being assaulted.

Prior to Williams’ arraignment, Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge spoke in front of the judge prior to Williams’ arraignment.

“I understand we deal with individuals with mental health issues. We are not mental health professionals, but oftentimes we are the first line of service to these individuals,” she said. “But it is incumbent upon service providers, families, and others to step up and get individuals the help they need and we will assist them in any way we can.”

This is now the second time in less than two months that a Cincinnati Police Officer has been attacked in an unprovoked situation and had to seek medical treatment.

“Thank God both of those officers are doing well today - doing fine, back to work. But the problem here is it’s not about ‘what are the police doing,’ whether we’re changing our policies or procedures - ours are solid, we’re tight there,” said Chief Theetge after the court hearing. “The problem is: Where is the family of the individuals with mental health [issues]? Where are the service agencies that get our money to provide mental health services to these individuals?”

Williams’ defense attorney told the court that the 19-year-old could have experienced a psychotic episode, but he could not prove or disprove that information at the time.

“We’re doing our part. My challenge to everybody is: Social agencies, step up. You get money from the citizens of Hamilton County, and we need you at the table to help these individuals get the mental health treatment that they need,” Theetge continued. “We will be there with you, but we’re not going to do it alone. And that’s why we ended up with two officers in the hospital because we were doing it alone.”

Theetge says society’s handling of mental illness is broken, and until it gets fixed, police will continue to take the brunt of most of it.

In addition to assaulting an officer, the 19-year-old is also accused of attempting to steal the officer’s gun, threatening to kill deputies and inmates in the jail, resisting arrest and failing to give police his personal information, according to court documents and the arrest report.

Williams currently faces several charges, including felonious assault, making false alarms, aggravated robbery, making terroristic threats, resisting arrest and failure to disclose personal information, court records show.

“At the end of the day, if the defendant needs mental health treatment, that’s a priority. We gotta get him some mental health treatment so that we won’t have to deal with him again in the future,” the police chief said.

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