Feb. 9, 2012 —
A Carter County man is suing the Grayson Police Department, its chief and several of its current and former officers in federal court, alleging he was beaten when officers came to serve a search warrant at his home in July of 2010.
Glenn Jackson Jr. claims in his complaint that he suffered permanent damage to his health as a result of the officers’ actions, which he claims violated civil rights guaranteed him under the U.S. and Kentucky constitutions. He’s seeking unspecified compensatory punitive damages.
Jackson also alleges that after he was beaten, the defendants “engaged in a conspiracy to make it appear that (he) was being charged with receiving stolen property, when no stolen property was recovered from (his) home even after the GPD officers conducted the search.”
According to court records, Jackson‘s case was bound over to the Grand Jury, but no action has been taken.
Jackson filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Ashland in July of last year. He did so pro se, meaning without an attorney. However, the case lay dormant for several months. The 120-day window for Jackson to have the defendants served expired in December, but Senior Judge Henry R. Wilhoit Jr. granted Jackson an extension, according to court records. The defendants were served in January and their responses were filed last week.
Defendants in the suit are the police department, its chief, Ed Ginter, Detective Sgt. Travis Steele, Sgt. Tony Cantrell, Officer Chris Yavorcik, former Officer Casey Brammell, now Carter County sheriff; the city and its mayor, George Steele.
In the suit, Jackson claims GPD officers came to his home during the late-evening hours of July, 10, 2010, to serve a search warrant. The officers were looking for stolen items Jackson had allegedly received, the complaint states.
While the officers were executing the warrant, Jackson alleges one of them, Travis Steele, attacked him and caused him to take several blows to the right ear. Jackson claims the beating left the ear bruised and bleeding and that he also suffered a broken rib, acute kidney failure and had to have surgery on his penis.
“Plaintiff has reason to believe that it was the intention of Travis Steele to injure the plaintiff, which is in violation and contravention of his training as a GPD officer, as it has never been the training of any competent police officer to attack a person when executing a search warrant,” the suit states.
Jackson claims one of the lasting health effects he has suffered as a result of the beating has been “unlocalized tinnitus,” or ringing in the ears. He also alleges he is still under a doctor’s care for his injuries.
In separate replies, the officers and George Steele deny any wrongdoing. They also cite numerous defenses, including “absolute, sovereign, qualified and/or official immunities” available to them under the Kentucky Claims Against Local Government Act.
The defendants also maintain Jackson’s claims are barred by the statute of limitations, and that the damages claimed by the plaintiff “are the result of the plaintiff’s own negligence.”
The officers are represented in the suit by attorney Michael Fox of Olive Hill, while George Steele is represented by Grayson City Attorney Reid Glass.
