RICHMOND COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News has obtained exclusive showing a Georgia man standing up against a wall in the Richmond County Jail with his hands behind his back, and deputies using their stun guns on him, causing him to have a severe head injury.
Channel 2's Craig Lucie read through the initial police report of the incident, which states Carlos Seals was being combative and would not comply.
Seals admitted to Lucie he was using profanity toward the officers, but he said when they told him to get up against the wall, he did and he placed his hands behind his back.
A police report said one of the deputies deployed his stun gun, but it didn't connect. It goes on to say that Seals is still combative so the deputy writes he reached for his stun gun and it connected. %
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The incident happened on Aug. 30, 2015.
Video shows Seals enter a secure area in the Richmond County Jail in Augusta.
“I screamed and everything was over with,” Seals told Lucie.
The video shows Seals had his face against the wall, hands behind his back when you see two deputies fire their stun guns.
“I watched him come through the door and he say pop his a**. As soon as said that, dude shot me back,” Seals told Lucie.
When Seals hit the floor, he's knocked out.
The video shows four deputies stand over him and after a minute and half one of them checks his pulse.
Deputy Donnie Crawford wrote that Seals was being combative and wouldn't comply.
“None of those facts applied. He was in the surrender position,” said DeKalb County based attorney Anita Lamar.
“I'd rather go by the video rather than what they say is on the video", Craig Jones of the Orlando Firm said.
Lamar and Craig Jones filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Richmond County, Deputy Donnie Crawford and Deputy Christopher Alexis over the incident.
The Sheriff's Office said they can’t comment, but did say they terminated Deputy Crawford and no action was taken against Christopher Alexis.
“You don't shoot a dart and then run electricity through the dart unless they are violently resisting you,” Jones said.
“They are refusing to pay the bills, so now not only does he have injuries to deal with but has bills to pay,” Lamar said.
Seals has more than $20,000 in medical bills.
Right now they are in the discovery phase of the case. It could take more than two years if the Sheriff's Office doesn't settle and decide to go to a jury trial.
Cox Media Group
