Bledsoe County man sues officers, local governments for $1.75 million, claiming ‘excessive force’

Staff Photo by Ben Benton/Chattanooga Times Free Press - Sep 14, 2012 - Philip Cagle. New Pikeville, Tenn., mayor Philip "Winky" Cagle was appointed Sept. 1, 2012, to fulfill the three-year, four-month unexpired term of former mayor Greg Johnson Staff Photo by Ben Benton/Chattanooga Times Free Press - Sep 14, 2012 - Philip Cagle. New Pikeville, Tenn., mayor Philip "Winky" Cagle was appointed Sept. 1, 2012, to fulfill the three-year, four-month unexpired term of former mayor Greg Johnson

By Ben Benton September 30, 2019 3 min read

Staff file photo by Ben Benton / Bledsoe County Mayor Gregg Ridley

A Bledsoe County, Tennessee, man is seeking $1.75 million in a federal lawsuit against a Bledsoe County deputy, a Pikeville police officer and city and county governments over an August 2018 incident in which he claims the officers used “excessive force.”

James Arthur Evans says Pikeville police officer Ricky Hodge and Bledsoe County deputy Chase Roberts used excessive force during a domestic violence call at his home at 11:30 p.m. CDT on Aug. 22, 2018, causing him to “sustain severe, permanent injuries and emotional distress,” according to a 20-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court Aug. 21, 2019.

Evans accuses the officers of “jumping on top of him, slamming him to the ground, breaking his foot and tasing (sic) him,” according to the complaint.

Pikeville Mayor Phil “Winkie” Cagle said Monday that the suit had not yet been served on the city or its officers yet.

“I didn’t know anything about it till Thursday or Friday,” Cagle said.