Dominique Gladney

AKRON, Ohio -- Three former employees of an Akron group home passed state background checks and had not been disciplined before they were accused of beating a developmentally-disabled man with a broomstick, a company spokeswoman said.

ViaQuest, a Dublin, Ohio healthcare services provider, fired three employees after learning of an investigation that resulted in criminal charges related to an Oct. 23 incident at a group home on Cliffside Drive in Akron, the spokeswoman said Friday in a phone interview with cleveland.com.

"We're just as shocked as everyone else and heartbroken by the allegations that have been made," said Emily Stickley, the company's vice president of human resources. "We as a company had no indication that they would behave in the manner as alleged in the incident."

Dominique Gladney, 23, is charged with felonious assault, abduction and assault in the case. Octavious Thomason, 43, and Mennyon Davis, 26, are charged with felonious assault and abduction, according to the Summit County Sheriff's Office.

Gladney was a home manager at the facility, and Thomason was a project

Octavious Thomason

manager, the sheriff's office said. Davis was identified only as an employee.

Court records show the incident happened Oct. 23, but the sheriff's office learned of the allegations Oct. 26 after it was contacted by the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities. The sheriff's office then notified the the Summit County Developmental Disabilities Board, which contacted ViaQuest, Stickley said.

ViaQuest is a company that provides home health, hospice and behavioral health care with specialized services for those with developmental disabilities and veterans. Officials contracted with another provider in the wake of the incident, the sheriff's office said.

"We believe in providing the best services to people with disabilities and we are heartbroken by this," Stickley said.

The sheriff's office investigation revealed employees became angry when the 20-year-old resident ate an employee's sandwich. They took him to the basement, held him there against his will and struck him several times with a broomstick, the sheriff's office said. He received minor injuries.

Mennyon Davis

The three suspects are in custody at the Summit County Jail. Investigators arrested Gladney and Thomason on Nov. 2 and Davis on Thursday, the sheriff's office said.

The investigation is ongoing and additional charges may be filed in the case, the sheriff's office said.

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