A security guard accused of punching a Brainerd High School student earlier this year now faces a lawsuit in addition to criminal charges.
Josephus Reed Jr., 49, was charged in April with aggravated assault and impersonating a licensed professional in connection with the January incident, after a grand jury decision.
Hamilton County school district officials said Reed was hired without proper authorization and was found to be working without a state private security license. He is set to appear Wednesday in Hamilton County Criminal Court on those charges, court dockets show.
(READ MORE: Security guard accused of punching Brainerd High student arrested)
The student, Jermaine Fleetwood, filed a lawsuit against Reed last week in Hamilton County Circuit Court, court records show. Fleetwood has since graduated, his attorney, Robin Flores, said in a text.
Hamilton County Sheriff's Office / Josephus ReedThe suit also names Brainerd High School Principal Crystal Sorrells, who was briefly placed on leave during an investigation into the incident, and Hamilton County Schools. Both were served with the complaint Friday, according to court records.
"Hamilton County Schools is aware of a lawsuit filed today concerning a January 2023 incident at Brainerd High School," district spokesperson Steve Doremus said in an emailed statement. "HCS has no further comment at this time concerning the pending litigation."
Fleetwood said Reed violated his constitutional civil rights and gave him a concussion.
The student, 17 at the time, was walking into the school with a hooded sweatshirt on when Reed told him to pull the hood down off his head, per the school's dress code, the complaint says.
When Fleetwood said he would take it off once he got inside, Reed reportedly grabbed the hood and removed it from Fleetwood's head, according to the lawsuit. While Fleetwood told Reed to get his hands off him, Reed allegedly jerked his head back two or three times, the suit says.
While holding Fleetwood, Reed allegedly told Sorrells, the principal, to come get Fleetwood before he hurt him.
"Somebody get this little boy, or I'm going to beat his ass," Reed reportedly said, according to the complaint.
Reed then allegedly pushed and hit Fleetwood with a closed fist, causing him to stumble back. After Sorrells grabbed Fleetwood, Reed reportedly swung at him again but missed, the complaint said.
"The force displayed by Reed amounted to unlawful force that carried a high risk of causing serious and life-threatening bodily harm and was unnecessary and unreasonable under the circumstances," Fleetwood's attorney wrote in the complaint.
Reed previously told the Chattanooga Times Free Press the incident did not happen as Fleetwood described but did not offer more details because of an open investigation. He could not be reached for comment Friday, and a message left for the attorney representing him in his criminal case was not returned.
Fleetwood was placed in police custody after the incident and kept in the back of a patrol car for a while before being released with no charges.
Sorrells was placed on leave after the Department of Children's Services began an investigation into the incident later in January. She was reinstated to her post in March, according to a news release from the district, and is still working as Brainerd High School's principal.
The suit accuses Sorrells of enabling and failing to stop the assault.
The complaint alleges the school district failed to vet Reed before he was hired to provide security at Brainerd High School.
Sorrells sent an email asking a community superintendent with the district for more security for morning arrival at the school Jan. 3, the complaint says. She identified Reed as a security provider, according to the complaint.
The next day — the first day back at school after winter break — Reed and two of his employees were stationed at the school, as seen in a video taken that day, court filings state. Later that day, Sorrells sent another email asking how to initiate a contract for security services. Though he hadn't been approved as a district contractor, Reed returned Jan. 5, the day of the incident with Fleetwood, the district said in a previous release.
An investigation found Sorrells didn't follow the district's policy for hiring private security. She was required to undergo further training as a result.
The lawsuit claims the school district didn't do enough to stop Reed from coming back to the school on the second day, after giving notice to Sorrells not to allow him back on campus.
Reed was convicted on drug charges twice, in 1996 and 2010, according to the complaint. When he applied for an unarmed security guard registration in 2019, the complaint alleges he said he was never arrested or had charges filed against him. His application was denied, saying he should have disclosed his criminal record, the complaint states.
Reed then operated his own security business under the name "Bigfoot Private Enforcement Security," working as a guard himself and hiring others for jobs, according to court filings.
Fleetwood's complaint says he was subjected to humiliation and a loss of liberty as a result of the incident. He asked the court to award him damages and for a jury trial in the case. No responses had been filed to the complaint as of Friday, according to court records.
Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319.
Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Brainerd High School Executive Principal Crystal Sorrells encourages the students in the High-Jackson gymnasium on the first day of the 2022-23 academic year. Sorrells has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by a former student who says he was punched by a security guard on camps in January.