Lawyer wants prison for detective who punched handcuffed man
Posted Dec 13, 2018 01:06:58 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The attorney for a black Tennessee man whose beating by a white sheriff’s officer while he was handcuffed was caught on video says the officer should be fired immediately and then prosecuted.
Lee Merritt told reporters in Chattanooga Thursday that Charles Toney suffered injuries that included a collapsed lung and broken ribs when officers arrested him Dec. 3 on an outstanding warrant. In a video posted to social media, detective Blake Kilpatrick can be seen punching and kicking a handcuffed Toney.
Merritt says Kilpatrick should go to prison for the assault and a past history of violence.
Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond previously said Kilpatrick is on desk duty pending an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department. The sheriff’s office did not have an immediate comment Thursday.
The Associated Press
