By ADAM ATKINSON

BRASHER FALLS -- A local man, who was employed as a sergeant at the Franklin County Correctional Facility in 2015 during an alleged altercation with an inmate there, has been cleared of charges connected to the incident.

Thomas Agans, 47, was indicted in November for second-degree assault, a felony, following an investigation of the incident by the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Office of Special Investigations.

Agans was accused of striking the inmate in the face, breaking his jaw.

However, the Franklin County district attorney’s office dropped the charge in court Monday in Malone.

District Attorney Craig P. Carriero said Monday afternoon that prosecution could not prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Agans was culpable in the incident.

“In talking to the inmate, we determined that he was cloudy and kind of out of it (during the altercation),” said Carriero.

The individual had been brought to the infirmary with a medical condition, and smelling salts had been put under his nose to bring him around. The inmate had then become combative when the alleged assault occurred. Carriero said the inmate could not really identify who may have struck him during the incident.

“A lot of it came down to an I.D. issue,” said the district attorney.

Agans could not be reached for comment.