South Pittsburg City Administrator Sammy Burrows talks during a tour of areas that experienced flooding in South Pittsburg.The attorney for the now-fired arresting officer who took South Pittsburg, Tenn., City Administrator Sammy Burrows to jail on charges of obstruction of officer rights, resisting arrest, speeding and reckless driving is crying foul in the disposition of the case.
Burrows was granted pretrial diversion last month in a guilty plea to reckless driving, but former South Pittsburg Police Department Sgt. Paul West’s attorney, Chattanooga lawyer Stevie Phillips, says the agreement was reached without the arresting officers’ input.
Burrows, 60, was arrested Nov. 8, 2013, after being pulled over by South Pittsburg Officer Ben Canales for doing 72 mph in a 35 mph zone, according to police reports. West arrived shortly afterward. Burrows and the officers got into a shouting match that ended in a struggle to put handcuffs on Burrows, reports state.
In a statement, Phillips said that West “and Officer Canales went to court and met with the assistant DA. At some point thereafter an agreement was reached between the assistant DA and Burrows’ lawyer without Sgt. West or Officer Canales’ input.”
Assistant District Attorney Dave McGovern said Friday that pretrial diversion is common in such cases and that he talked with Phillips and also with an attorney for the Fraternal Order of Police before the agreement was made in court.