Former Elmore County deputy sentenced to 29 months in prison in police brutality case
A former Elmore County sheriff’s deputy was sentenced to 29 months in prison and three years of supervised release this week on a federal charge stemming from a violent traffic stop in March 2022.
Blake Hicks, 33, pleaded guilty on March 6 to depriving an arrestee of his civil rights under color of law.
According to documents and statements in court, Hicks willfully used unreasonable force against an arrestee without legal justification, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama said in a news release. The office said Hicks punched and kicked the person in the head while they were already handcuffed, incapacitated and on the ground.
The arrestee suffered a broken cheekbone, concussion and lacerations from the assault, the office said.
“This defendant had a duty to respect the rights of people in his custody and to keep them safe,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in the news release. “Instead, he violently assaulted a person under arrest who was not resisting or threatening harm to the defendant or the public. The Justice Department remains firmly committed to holding accountable law enforcement officials who abuse their powers and use excessive force against people in custody.”
The Mobile field office of the FBI investigated the case.
“The sentence imposed today ensures that he is held responsible for his actions," U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama Jonathan S. Ross said in the news release. "Failure to hold Hicks accountable would discredit the noble service of other officers and weaken the public’s trust in law enforcement."
The prosecution was related to a case of police brutality on March 5, 2022, against a 26-year-old victim identified as having the initials “T.Q.,” according to Hicks’ indictment, released in October 2023.
The Montgomery Advertiser reported that the victim was Tristen Quinn, who was 25 at the time of the incident at a gas station on U.S. 231 in Wetumpka. Wetumpka police had pulled Quinn over for having a tag light out, and Hicks and another Elmore deputy went to the scene as backup.
After Quinn refused to provide his ID, an officer placed him in the back of a patrol vehicle. When Quinn attempted to run away minutes later, the officers chased after him and deployed a stun gun, at which point he falls to the ground on his back.
Surveillance video provided by Quinn’s attorneys shows an officer believed to be Hicks run after Quinn, jump up and stomp both his boots into Quinn’s head. He then punches and kicks Quinn’s head.
Quinn was taken to a local hospital for treatment and said he was seriously injured in the incident. Quinn was found guilty of a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest in Elmore County District Court in connection with the incident, District Attorney CJ Robinson said.
After the incident was reported, the sheriff’s office conducted an investigation and Hicks was placed on leave without pay, Franklin said. He had been with the office about five years.
Hicks resigned from the office, the sheriff said.
Marty Roney contributed to this report.
Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMealins.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Former Elmore County deputy sentenced to 29 months in prison
