DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — Priceville Police Officer Garry Chapman and the City of Priceville have been officially dropped from a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a Decatur man who died following an arrest.
John Scott Jr. died at Huntsville Hospital less than a week after a call regarding his mental health ended with a violent arrest. Scott’s mother, Paulette Tennison-Sanders, confirmed on Facebook around 5:43 a.m. on April 22 that her son had died.
His mother filed a lawsuit on August 29. The lawsuit named six individuals from the City of Decatur, 10 individuals from the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, and Chapman. The lawsuit contains 30 counts filed against the defendants, claiming wrongful death, violations of an individual’s federal rights, assault and battery and more.
Priceville Police Officer Garry Chapman was originally named in the 109-page wrongful death lawsuit for Scott, but was officially dropped from the lawsuit on Thursday.
Priceville Police Chief Jerry Holmes had previously said Chapman “was not involved in any way in the arrest or the detention of Mr. Scott, either at the site of his arrest, or at the Morgan County Jail,” although he was present in the Morgan County Jail at the time that Scott was being processed in the jail. Holmes said he was solely there to process a PPD arrestee.
Chapman was also involved in a chase in September that ended with a deadly crash in Hartselle. The family of the 17-year-old killed in the crash is suing Chapman, the City of Priceville and others for negligence, among other counts.
Scott was placed under arrest on April 15 at Brookridge Apartments after two encounters with Decatur Police officers. The second encounter eventually led to Scott being hit, kicked, tased and hooded by officers. After a four-minute struggle, Scott was handcuffed and taken to the Morgan County Jail.
DPD said jail personnel found Scott was showing signs of physical distress, and an ambulance was called and Scott was taken to the hospital. The following week, he died at Huntsville Hospital.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office was asked to investigate Scott’s death. A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office told News 19 the information was turned over at the end of last week. The Morgan County DA’s Office confirmed it is reviewing the report at this time.
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