An excessive force lawsuit filed Tuesday in Mississippi County circuit court states that a Blytheville police officer's actions during an arrest crushed a man's trachea and left him in a permanent vegetative state.
Court documents filed by Blytheville attorneys Jim Harris and Zach Morrison state that officer Doyle Driskill violated 29-year-old Rayshawn Warren's civil rights by using excessive force during a Sept. 29 arrest for public intoxication.
Driskill made contact with Warren while he was walking up to a house in downtown Blytheville after receiving calls about an intoxicated man trying to push his way into residences, according to a Blytheville Police Department report.
Driskill said he yelled at Warren to “come to me,” to which Warren responded, “No,” and started running east on Main Street. Driskill caught up with Warren and tried to use an “arm bar," then tackled him and restrained him until other officers arrived, the report states.
Morrison said the "arm bar" resulted in the crushing of Warren's trachea.
Medical personnel arrived at the scene to provide treatment to both parties, but Warren refused medical assistance, the report states. Driskill said while he was en route to get his ankle wrapped, the ambulance was called back to scene where he saw another officer giving chest compressions to Warren.
Police Chief Ross Thompson said in a news release that officers believed Warren was in a state of excited delirium where subjects display extreme mental and physiological excitement characterized by extreme agitation, hyperthermia, hostility, exceptional strength, and endurance without fatigue.
"This condition is often the result of drug use or overdose, and can cause cardiac arrest," Thompson said. "Medical records show that Mr. Warren had amphetamines and THC in his system the night of the encounter and was described by medical staff as having an altered mental status due to meth intoxication. Medical records also indicate that Mr. Warren received treatments known to counter act the effects of amphetamines."
Morrison said Warren was transported to Great River Medical Center in Blytheville where they determined his injuries were so extensive and severe that he was transferred to St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro.
Thompson said body cameras were active during the Sept. 29 incident and the matter is being investigated.
"Members of the Blytheville Police Department contacted the Arkansas State Police the night this occurred and we have asked them to look into it," Thompson said.
The suit, filed on behalf of Warren's mother, also names the Blytheville Police Department, the city and Thompson.
Last year, Chardrick Mitchell, 25, of Blytheville, who filed a lawsuit against the city of Blytheville, the police chief and a patrol officer after the officer shot him with a stun gun during a July 4, 2016 arrest, was awarded $35,000 in a settlement.