Three Louisville jail officers arrested in Racial Beating of Handcuffed Black Man
Three Louisville Metro Corrections officers were arrested yesterday, accused of beating a handcuffed inmate. Sgt. Robert Arnold, 41, and Officers Joshua Spenton, 30, and Scott DeJarnette, 28, also were suspended without pay after an investigation by the Louisville Metro Police Public Integrity Unit, said Pam Windsor, Corrections spokeswoman. The three are charged with fourth-degree assault and official misconduct, both criminal misdemeanors, Windsor said. They were released without bail last night, she said. The charges stem from the Jan. 16 beating of Adrian Garner at the jail, according to the arrest warrants. The warrants said the three white officers used racial slurs and threats against Garner, an African American. According to the arrest warrants, the corrections officers are accused of beating Garner, 32, while they were escorting him from a cell to another part of the jail. Garner had asked to go to the medical ward to seek someone in mental health, according to the arrest warrants, but it was unclear if that was why officers removed him from the cell. "After placing (Garner) in handcuffs, (DeJarnette) removed (Garner) from his cell and forced (Garner) to walk bent over, with his arms behind him and above his head," the warrant against DeJarnette said. In warrants issued against all three, it is alleged that, when Garner got to Door 7 in the jail, the officers tried to pull him to the ground, then jumped on him to get him on the ground. The officers "dived on top of (Garner), striking (Garner) with their knees," one of the warrants said. The warrants say the blows -- from fists and elbows, along with kicks -- continued for four to five minutes. [more] and [more]