Then: A man accused Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office deputies of repeatedly beating him with a baton, which resulted in several injuries, as well as lung and kidney damage from contracting COVID-19 while incarcerated at the jail, according to a 2020 lawsuit.
Reginald Arrington Jr., who was a musician passing through on his way from Atlanta to Ohio for a business meeting, filed the $75 million lawsuit after the alleged ordeal.
Deputies responded May 23, 2020, to the 4800 block of Waverly Court in Ooltewah, according to court records.
A woman reported a Black man was acting suspicious and asking questions about how to get out of the neighborhood, the records said.
The deputies, all white, allegedly found Arrington walking south on Old Lee Highway in violation of the pedestrian on roadway law.
Arrington told deputies his car broke down at a nearby motel, so he’d gone to the neighborhood where a female friend lives, the records said. But she told him to leave.
He allegedly began exhibiting erratic behavior and grabbed for the gun of one of the deputies during his arrest.
(READ MORE: Harrison man who allegedly shot at family indicted)
At the time, former Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston released dashboard camera footage of the incident.
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The footage showed deputies repeatedly striking Arrington with batons and holding him to the ground. Their union said it was not a beating.
Arrington was incarcerated for four weeks during a pandemic for what should have been nothing more than a citation for walking on the wrong side of the road, and he contracted COVID-19, the lawsuit said.
Arrington was accused of resisting arrest, simple assault on police, criminal impersonation, pedestrian in roadway and four counts of aggravated assault on police, but Pinkston ultimately dismissed all charges against him.
Now: No settlement agreement was reached, and it remains unclear why the case was closed.
About a year after Arrington filed the lawsuit, the case was dismissed, according to a joint dismissal.
“The parties jointly announce that all matters in controversy relevant to the above referenced case are to be dismissed without prejudice,” the dismissal said.
Hamilton County Attorney Janie Varnell said by text message as she understands it, Arrington’s attorney reached out to the county and expressed an intention to voluntarily dismiss his case.
“The county, of course, had no objection,” Varnell said. “Any further questions about the reasoning for the dismissal would need to be addressed to plaintiff’s counsel.”
Attorney Brandy Spurgin-Floyd, who represented Arrington, declined to comment on the outcome.
“That decision was made by the client and not by me,” she said by text message.
Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Matt Lea did not respond to two emails requesting comment.
Contact courts reporter Sofia Saric at ssaric@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.