Deputy beats handcuffed man and drags his limp body inside NC courthouse, lawsuit says

A North Carolina sheriff’s deputy used dangerous jiujitsu moves during the beating of a handcuffed man and his aunt, who was punched in the face when she tried recording the attack, according to a new federal lawsuit.

After pulling over Gary Thomas Jr. over and arresting him on suspicion of marijuana possession on March 2, 2022, Washington County deputy Jeffrey Aaron Edwards drove him to the Washington County courthouse in Plymouth, where he went on to brutally attack Edwards, a complaint filed Sept. 21 says.

Outside the courthouse, Edwards forcefully kneed Thomas in his back and neck, causing his head to slam into the building’s brick wall, before the deputy dragged his limp body inside, according to the complaint, which says footage of the incident was caught on Thomas’ friend’s cellphone and received national media attention.

Edwards then dragged Gary’s aunt, Mary Moore, into the courthouse after punching her in the face for recording and objecting to the assault of her nephew, the complaint says.

Edwards later described the encounter in a text to a co-worker as a “pretty good fight,” according to the complaint.

He was fired by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office over his use of force after an investigation into the incident, the office announced in a March 10, 2022, Facebook post.

However, he is still a law enforcement officer in North Carolina, according to the complaint. It’s unclear where he is employed.

The event left Thomas traumatized — especially from witnessing Edwards assault his aunt — and caused him to move away from the town of Plymouth out of fear of potential “harassment and further mistreatment from law enforcement,” the complaint says.

Moore also fears Edwards will “find her and harm her again,” Lauren Bonds, executive director of the National Police Accountability Project, told McClatchy News in an interview on Sept. 21.

The NPAP, a nonprofit dedicated to holding law enforcement officers accountable when they violate the law, is representing Thomas and Moore along with the Littlejohn Law Firm.

Edwards isn’t the only one to blame for his misconduct, according to Bonds. The issue also lies with the sheriff’s office, which has tolerated law enforcement misconduct for years, Bonds said.

“Edwards may have been the primary person leg sweeping, body slamming, dragging, and punching Mary and Gary...but he is far from the only one responsible,” the complaint says.

Thomas and Moore are suing Washington County, Sheriff Johnny Barnes, Edwards and others involved in the March 2022 incident on several causes of action, including excessive force.

McClatchy News contacted the county and the sheriff’s office for comment on Sept. 21 and didn’t receive an immediate response.

Thomas and Moore decided to file the lawsuit because they don’t want another “situation where sheriff’s deputies can consistently harm people and there’d be no action taken until it makes the news,” Bonds said.

Following Edwards’ firing from the sheriff’s office, a district attorney decided to not file criminal charges against him in connection with his treatment of Thomas and Moore, WITN reported in September 2022.

Bonds called that decision “disappointing.” However, she said it doesn’t undermine their confidence that “Edwards will be found civilly liable in this case.”

What led to Thomas’ arrest?

On March 2, 2022, Edwards was outside of his jurisdiction when he pulled Thomas and his friend Caressil Goddard over in a rental car in Martin County, the complaint says.

Since Thomas didn’t have a license to show Edwards, the deputy put him in the backseat of his patrol car and went on to search the rental car before saying he’d found marijuana inside the vehicle, the complaint says.

Then Edwards told Goddard to leave and arrested Thomas on for marijuana possession and driving with a suspended license, according to the complaint, which says these charges were later dropped.

Afterward, Edwards drove Thomas to the Washington County courthouse, where deputy Brian Mizelle, another defendant in the case, arrived, the complaint says.

The brutal assault of Thomas and his aunt

Outside the courthouse, Edwards knocked Thomas’ legs out from underneath him as he was handcuffed and got on top of him, the complaint says.

This is when Thomas’ mother, Moore and Goddard arrived to bail him out of jail and saw him being held down on the pavement, according to the complaint.

The trio was “horrified” as they saw Edwards and Mizelle begin to drag Thomas toward the courthouse, the complaint says.

When Moore began recording with her phone, “Edwards abandoned his assault of Gary to assault Mary” and punched her in the face, leaving her mouth bloody, according to the complaint, which accuses Mizelle of standing by and not intervening.

During the assault of Thomas and Moore, instead of relying on his training from the sheriff’s office, Edwards relied on “(basic law enforcement training), Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, martial arts, and training from the Marines,” the complaint says.

“Gary was handcuffed. He wasn’t actively resisting, he wasn’t fighting,” Bonds said. “To use any type of force against him at that point was gonna be illegal.”

Thomas and Moore dragged into courthouse

Edwards is accused of continuing to attack Moore before handcuffing her, meanwhile Mizelle held Thomas down by lying on top of him — pressing a knee on his back, the complaint says.

Ultimately, Thomas and Moore were both dragged into the courthouse by Edwards, according to the complaint.

Then, two Plymouth police officers arrived, Capt. Kevin Phelps and Sgt Ryan White, who witnessed Edwards’ use of excessive force but didn’t attempt to stop it, the complaint says.

Mizelle, Phelps and White had “a duty and an obligation to intervene under the law,” Keisha James, NPAP staff attorney, told McClatchy News on Sept. 21.

By not doing so, they failed to execute their duties, James said.

The lawsuit also names the town of Plymouth, its police chief, Phelps and White as defendants. McClatchy News contacted the town and police department for comment on Sept. 21 and didn’t receive an immediate response.

Thomas and Moore left with injuries

After Thomas and Moore posted bail and were released from the custody of the sheriff’s office, they went to a hospital for treatment, the complaint says.

In addition to a bloodied mouth, the event left Moore with marks and bruises on her body, according to the complaint.

Meanwhile, Thomas “was treated at the hospital for dizziness, blurred vision, and headaches, among other injuries,” the complaint says.

A week after Edwards’ firing, a district attorney dropped the charges against Thomas and Moore “in the interests of justice,” the complaint says.

Bonds told McClatchy News that Thomas and Moore hope their lawsuit will lead to “significant changes” in both the sheriff’s office and Plymouth Police Department.

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