A lawsuit filed in Mississippi County Circuit Court accuses a Blytheville police officer of using excessive force during an arrest that left a man with a crushed trachea and in a permanent vegetative state.
Court documents filed Tuesday by Blytheville attorneys Jim Harris and Zach Morrison state that officer Doyle Driskill violated 29-year-old Rayshawn Warren's civil rights by using excessive force during a Sept. 29 arrest for public intoxication.
The suit, filed on behalf of Warren's mother, also names the Blytheville Police Department, Police Chief Ross Thompson, and the city of Blytheville.
Driskill encountered Warren while Warren was walking to a house in downtown Blytheville after police had received calls about an intoxicated man trying to push his way into residences, according to a Police Department report.
Driskill said he yelled at Warren to "come to me," but Warren responded "no" and started running east on Main Street. Driskill caught up with Warren and used an "arm bar" to restrain him until other officers arrived, the report said.
Morrison said Driskill's actions resulted in the crushing of Warren's trachea.
Driskill said in the report that Warren was alert and continued to resist officers' attempts to handcuff him. Driskill noted in the report that two other officers arrived and one began to administer drive stuns to Warren's thighs and abdomen with a stun gun, which had no effect.
Thompson said in a news release the officers believed Warren was in a state of excited delirium, where subjects display extreme mental and physiological excitement characterized by agitation, hyperthermia, hostility, exceptional strength and endurance without fatigue.
"This condition is often the result of drug use or overdose and can cause cardiac arrest," Thompson said.
Medical personnel arrived to provide treatment to both parties but Warren refused medical assistance, the report said. Driskill said he was on the way to get his ankle wrapped when the ambulance was called back to the scene and Driskill saw another officer giving Warren chest compressions.
Morrison said in court documents that Warren was transported to Great River Medical Center in Blytheville, where it was determined that his injuries were so extensive that he was transferred to St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro.
Warren's condition will not improve in all likelihood, Morrison said in a news release.
"His medical bills, to date, are estimated to exceed $250,000," Morrison said.
Thompson said Warren went into cardiac arrest after medics arrived.
"Medical records show that Mr. Warren had amphetamines and THC in his system the night of the encounter and was described by medical staff as having an altered mental status due to meth intoxication," the police chief said in a news release. "Medical records also indicate that Mr. Warren received treatments known to counteract the effects of amphetamines."
Blytheville police also released documents that show Warren had previous run-ins with police. Most were drug-related, according to the documents.
Two days before the incident with Driskill, Warren had called police three times and said someone was hiding in the attic of an abandoned house next door, according to police. Officers said a man who identified himself as Warren's younger brother told them that Warren was paranoid because of drug use and that Warren had left the residence before officers arrived.
Thompson said body cameras were active during the Sept. 29 incident and the matter remains under investigation.
"Members of the Blytheville Police Department contacted the Arkansas State Police the night this occurred and we have asked them to look into it," Thompson said in the news release. "This is an active and ongoing criminal investigation, and no further information can be released at this time."
Chardrick Mitchell, 25, of Blytheville reached a settlement last year in an excessive-force lawsuit filed against the city, its police chief and a patrol officer after the officer used a stun gun against Mitchell during an arrest July 4, 2016. Mitchell was awarded $35,000 in the settlement.
State Desk on 11/01/2018