A local man's family is suing the government of Bledsoe County, Tennessee, for $280 million over his collapse and death during a January 2021 arrest in which a police K-9 was used to apprehend him in actions the plaintiffs say violated his constitutional rights.
The suit filed Jan. 28 in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga alleges 41-year-old Chad William Songer died Jan. 31, 2021, shortly after two Bledsoe County sheriff's deputies confronted him in his front yard and contends the police dog they released bit him several times, contributing to his death.
The suit names the Bledsoe County government and deputies Chase Roberts and Matthew Brock.
The plaintiffs are Songer's children, Macey and William Songer, who are seeking $40 million on each of seven counts in the federal suit. The suit includes alleged violations of the deprivation of civil rights act, the municipal liability code, and includes accusations of assault and battery, wrongful death, negligence and other claims for recovery, according to court documents.
Bledsoe County Mayor Gregg Ridley said he was served papers in the suit Monday. He referred a media inquiry to Howard Upchurch, who is representing the county in the suit.
"Our investigation, (like that conducted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation), did not reveal any evidence which would give rise to liability against the officers or the county," Upchurch said Tuesday in an emailed message.
Twelfth Judicial District Attorney General Mike Taylor said the possibility of criminal charges against the dog's handler, Roberts, was presented to a Bledsoe County grand jury in November.
The charges were aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, the alleged deadly weapon being the dog, Taylor said Tuesday in a telephone interview. The grand jury did not return an indictment, he said.
According to the Songers' suit, deputies Roberts and Brock saw Chad Songer splitting firewood in the yard of his home on Brockdell Road in Pikeville, checked with a dispatcher to see if there were active warrants for his arrest and learned there were warrants charging violation of probation and unpaid child support.
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The officers "drove up in an aggressive manner and told him he was under arrest" and approached him with a "K-9 attack dog," the suit states.
As the officers approached "and started shouting" at Songer, he backed away in the opposite direction, the suit states. The suit contends Songer was "unarmed and did not pose an imminent threat to anyone, neither the police nor the community."
At that moment, according to the suit, Roberts released the K-9 "without warning or justification" and Songer "attempted to avoid injury by fleeing."
The county officer's K-9 partner caught Songer, who was "bitten numerous times and eventually died," the suit states.
Songer was transported to Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga, where he was pronounced dead and the cause of death was ruled "by acute methamphetamine overdose and dog bite," the suit states.
The eight-page lawsuit seeks a total of $280 million in compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees and costs, according to court records.
Bledsoe County has about 30 days to file a response to the suit.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton.