Charges dropped against jail beating victim

Gordon Jackson, The Brunswick News, Ga.
·2 min read

Feb. 24—Criminal charges have been dropped against a man beaten Sept. 3 by jailers in the Camden County Jail.

The drug and traffic charges that led to the arrest of Jarrett Hobbs, 41, of North Carolina, have been dropped.

The state has declined to prosecute assault, battery and obstruction charges filed against Hobbs after his beating because of "insufficient evidence to prove the defendant is guilty as to these charges," according to the warrant dismissal issued Thursday by the district attorney's office.

Three Camden deputies, Mason Garrick, Braxton Massey, and Ryan Biegel, were fired after they were captured on film beating Hobbs. Massey had been employed six months, Garrick 18 months, and Biegel three years with the Camden County Sheriff's Office.

Hobbs' attorneys, who include civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels and Bakari Sellers, said Thursday they have reached a significant settlement agreement with the Camden County Sheriff's Office to resolve all civil claims coming out of the incident.

"Let's be clear: no one deserves to be beaten like that," Daniels said of the Sept. 3 beating. "This settlement doesn't make up for that, not by a long shot. But at the end of the day, Mr. Hobbs' charges were dropped, the officers who beat him have been charged and this settlement gives him and his family a new way forward. That's something we can all be proud of."

Surveillance camera footage showed Hobbs being pummeled by five deputies before he was dragged out of his cell. Daniels said one of Hobbs' dreadlocks was pulled from his scalp and he was denied medical treatment for two weeks while in solitary confinement after the beating.

"While we're proud of this settlement and we're for Mr. Hobbs, this is only one step of a long journey," Sellers said. "The stories of abuse and corruption surrounding this detention center and the Camden County Sheriff's Office are beyond disturbing and those responsible must be held accountable."

Hobbs' attorneys formally requested the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Camden County Sheriff's Office in November citing the Hobbs beating as well the August 2022 killing of Latoya James, the 37-year-old unarmed Black woman who was shot and killed by Camden County deputies during the execution of a warrant.