Man ‘brutally attacked’ after Stokes County deputies searching for son ‘stormed’ wrong address, lawsuit says
STOKES COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — A lawsuit has been filed against the Stokes County sheriff and multiple deputies claiming that investigators illegally entered a man’s home and assaulted him.
The lawsuit, filed by Larry Gray Blakley Sr. on March 4, names Sgt. Josh Mabe, Sheriff Joey Lemons, Deputies Cody Smith and Monte G. Wolfe and Captain Terry Dalton.
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Two years earlier, at about 8:40 p.m. on March 4, 2021, the lawsuit says Mabe, Smith and Wolfe were attempting to serve a warrant for 53-year-old Larry Gray Blakley Jr. but instead “stormed” into the home of Blakley Sr., then 75, who lived three miles away from the address for Blakely Jr. listed on their warrant. According to the lawsuit, the younger Blakley did not live at his father’s address and looks “vastly different” from his father, who is more than 20 years older. Blakley Sr. had not consented to deputies entering his home.
Blakley writes in the suit that “as of March 4, 2021, I had not had any contact with Larry Blakley, Jr. since October 2020. He did not stay with me and did not visit. There was no reason to believe that he would have been at my house on March 4, 2021.”
“Defendants Mabe, Smith, and Wolfe had personal knowledge that the subject of the warrant, Larry Blakley Jr., did not live at this address. Even the arrest warrant stated a different residence for Larry Blakley Jr. The officers had no legal right to enter Mr. Blakley (Sr.)’s home,” the lawsuit said.
The deputies then allegedly used “excessive force” against Blakley Sr., who had multiple medical conditions and was not armed. According to the lawsuit, the deputies “physically threw an elderly and frail Mr. Blakley (Sr.) onto the floor and began to kick him.” He was repeatedly kicked in his torso, including once in his head, and his hand was reportedly stomped on.
The elderly man broke a rib and two vertebrae, and photographs taken the next day by his granddaughter and included in the lawsuit show significant deep purple bruising all along the side of the man’s body and bruises on his arms and legs.
The lawsuit goes on to state that “Blakley (Sr.) begged Stokes County Sheriff Deputies to refrain from assaulting him and informed them that he has a medical condition that will become inflamed if they continued to assault him. Defendants engaged in such use of force while Mr. Blakley (Sr.) was handcuffed.”
“No one sought medical attention or provided any medical care to Mr. Blakley (Sr.)
before taking him to jail,” the lawsuit states. “Upon bringing Mr. Blakley, still in handcuffs, into the Stokes County Jail, Defendant Mabe threatens Mr. Blakley (Sr.) by saying ‘I’ll flatten your a– again.’ Mr. Blakley is in pain and cannot sit still.”
The lawsuit states that, after, Wolfe “failed to report Defendants Mabe and Smith’s use of force to the Stokes County Sheriff’s Office.”
When Blakley Sr. was released from jail, he contacted his daughter who called for medical assistance. After 11 p.m. on the same day, Blakley Sr. was examined by EMTs and taken to the hospital. A doctor examined him and reported that Blakley Sr. had the following injuries:
Contusion or ecchymosis to the right side of the forehead;
Ecchymosis over right and left clavicle
Chest pain
Soreness in the middle of his chest
Closed fracture of a rib
Rib pain on the right side
Ecchymosis to the right distal forearm and wrist region
Multiple contusions
Subcutaneous hematoma
Soft tissue hematoma
Muscular pain
Spasm of lower back muscle
Right-sided lower back pain with right sciatica
Closed fracture of the transverse process of lumbar vertebra
Lumbar disc bulge
Traumatic hematomas of the buttocks and lower back
Ecchymosis to the bilateral flanks
Flank pain
Urinary retention
“Defendants Mabe, Smith, and Wolfe broke Mr. Blakley’s back and a rib,” the lawsuit said.
After the assault
In the aftermath of the alleged assault, Blakley Sr. wanted to file a complaint against the deputies involved but “Cpt. Terry Dalton of the Stokes County Sheriff’s Office intervened, telling the family that he had ‘seen the tapes’ and there was no need to file a complaint. Defendant Dalton took affirmative action to prevent Mr. Blakley (Sr.) from protesting police brutality and helped to cover up the actions of these deputies.”
The plaintiffs believe that Dalton lied about having seen videos of the incident or destroyed evidence of it.
The lawsuit also alleges that “Defendants Dalton and (Sheriff Joey) Lemons knew of prior excessive force complaints against Defendants Mabe, Smith and Wolfe, including violence against the elderly, but failed to take any corrective action to ensure the safety of the people of Stokes County, North Carolina.”
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Dalton had reportedly “informed Mr. Blakley (Sr.) that the Sheriff’s Office had complaints about Defendants Mabe, Smith and Wolfe for excessive force and that the offices would feed off one another when they worked together,” according to the lawsuit.
The captain then allegedly told them that “the matter would be handled and heard Mr. Blakley (Sr.) and his family’s complaints.”
The lawsuit says the assault caused Blakley Sr. to “endure excruciating pain, mental suffering, permanent physical injury, the loss of mobility and the ability to care for himself, debilitating anxiety, sleeplessness, a loss of personal sense of security, and many other losses that the evidence will show.”
It describes Blakley Sr.’s life before the assault as independent and pain-free. Now, it says he’s limited in the tasks he can complete due to the pain in his back and lower body.
“As of September 2022, the medical expenses for the treatment of injuries that Mr. Blakley (Sr.) suffered because of the assault by Defendants amounted to $96,198.70. Mr. Blakley continues to incur medical expenses and bills as a result of the injuries sustained,” the suit reads.
According to the lawsuit, Blakley Sr.’s constitutional rights were violated, stating he “had a right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment.” The Fourth Amendment also protected him from the use of excessive force.
Blakley Sr. “did not actively resist; he did not commit any crime; and he did not attempt to flee or escape,” the lawsuit said and alleges that Lemons failed in his duty as sheriff by not properly disciplining deputies who allegedly had a history of excessive force.
“These officers brutally attacked and permanently injured me on March 4, 2021,” Blakley Sr. wrote in the lawsuit. “I did not do anything to deserve this.”
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