Ex-school resource officer indicted

The former police officer accused of striking two young teens during school days in January was indicted Tuesday on charges of official misconduct and second-degree assault, but not the most serious offense of first-degree assault.

A Jefferson County grand jury indicted ex-school resource officer Jonathan Hardin on three of four charges presented stemming from a Jan. 27 incident captured on an Olmstead Academy North surveillance video that shows a physical altercation between Hardin and a 13-year-old student.

The body chose not to indict Hardin on a B felony charge of first-degree assault, which would have accused him of intentionally causing physical injury with a dangerous instrument or of “under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life” wantonly engaging in actions that “created grave risk of death to another thereby caused serious physical injury...” according to the grand jury indictment.

Reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at (502) 582-4989. Follow him on Twitter at @MattGlo.