The trial of a former Cherokee Village police officer is scheduled to begin today in Sharp County Circuit Court in Ash Flat.
Joshua Trivitt, 45, of Agnos was charged with second-degree battery in connection with the Nov. 12, 2016, arrest of Randell Veazie of Ash Flat, who was 39 years old at the time.
Veazie suffered a broken nose, a broken and dislocated jawbone, and deep cuts during the arrest, according to a police-brutality lawsuit he filed against several officers and agencies.
All the defendants named in Veazie’s police-brutality suit have been dismissed except for Trivitt. On June 5, U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson ordered the police-brutality case stayed in federal court pending resolution of the state criminal charge against Trivitt.
Trivitt has pleaded innocent to the felony battery charge in Sharp County Circuit Court. A special prosecutor, John “Jack” McQuary, has been called in to handle the case.
According to a probable-cause arrest affidavit, witnesses said Trivitt “body slammed” Veazie to his kitchen floor and again outside his residence, both times while Veazie was handcuffed behind his back.
Jack Lowe, a Sharp County deputy who assisted with the arrest, said Trivitt body-slammed Veazie to the ground so hard that Lowe “felt the impact … in his feet,” according to the affidavit from Special Agent David Moss of the Arkansas State Police.
“Lowe stated Veazie weighs 150 pounds and Trivitt weighs 325 pounds,” according to the affidavit.
Trivitt told investigators Veazie spit on him three times during the arrest.
“Trivitt stated he then took Veazie to the ground over his hip and in a right-to-left direction,” Moss wrote. “Trivitt stated he did not strike, hit or kick Veazie and he did not witness anyone else strike, hit or kick Veazie.”
Veazie told investigators he didn’t spit on Trivitt but he couldn’t remember much about the arrest after being body-slammed.
According to the affidavit, Ash Flat police officer Thomas Rigsby told investigators that Lynnette Veazie, Randell’s wife, called police because he was “acting up” and she wanted him out of the residence. When interviewed a month later, Lynnette Veazie told investigators she had called 911 “to get Randell some help” after he came home from drinking.
Ash Flat police officer Colton Wilson was the first to arrive on the scene.
“Wilson stated he went inside the residence and observed Randell Veazie rolling a marijuana joint in the kitchen,” according to the affidavit. “Wilson stated he immediately placed Veazie under arrest.”
“Lowe stated Wilson handcuffed Veazie for safety reasons,” according to the affidavit. “Lowe stated Veazie was swaying on his feet and it was obvious to him he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.”
Lowe told investigators that Trivitt escalated the situation after he arrived on the scene.
“Lowe stated Trivitt started talking to Randell Veazie and asked him what his problem was,” according to the affidavit. “Lowe stated Veazie was not resisting Trivitt and that he was answering his questions.”
“Lowe stated Trivitt was less than a foot away from Veazie,” according to the affidavit.
Then Trivitt stepped back, wiped his face and said Veazie had spit on him, wrote Moss.
Lynnette Veazie told investigators Trivitt grabbed her husband around the throat with both hands and slammed him onto the kitchen floor, according to the affidavit.
Richard Craig Wiles, a part-time Ash Flat police officer, said Trivitt had to “forcefully take Veazie to the ground” outside his residence because Veazie was attempting to kick and head butt Trivitt, who was trying to put him in a police car.
“Wiles stated that after Veazie was taken to the ground that there was blood on Veazie,” according to the affidavit.
While being transported to a hospital, Veazie began kicking the windows of the police car, so Wilson stopped in a parking lot to put leg restraints on Veazie, according to the affidavit.
While Wilson was dragging him out of the car, Veazie’s chin hit the pavement or part of the car causing a gash, according to court filings.
In his lawsuit, Veazie said that Rigsby hit him in the face with a large flashlight at about that time. But federal Judge Wilson dismissed Rigs-by as a defendant in Veazie’s police-brutality suit.
“Although he doesn’t remember the incident, plaintiff asserts that Officer Rigs-by ‘yelled at plaintiff to shut up, and then struck plaintiff in the right side of [his] face and head’ with a Maglite flashlight, while he was on the ground in handcuffs in the Alps parking lot,” the judge wrote in his June 5 order.
“Had plaintiff been hit in the head with a flashlight, it likely would have been excessive force under these circumstances,” Judge Wilson wrote. “However, the audio/ video of the incident does not support plaintiff’s allegations. Although the video is temporarily blocked (fewer than two seconds), there is audio. At the moment Officer Rigsby allegedly hits plaintiff in the head with a Maglite, plaintiff does not react in pain or protest. In fact, plaintiff continues talking to the officers uninterrupted and without distress. In light of the record as a whole, no reasonable juror could find that Officer Rigsby struck plaintiff in the head with a Maglite.”
Maglite is a brand of flashlight that can hold as many as five D-cell batteries and double as a baton for police officers.
According to subpoenas in the criminal case, the trial could last three days.
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