Three Georgia sheriff’s deputies are facing charges after they were seen on video beating 41-year-old Jarrett Hobbs at the Camden County Jail on Sept. 3, officials said.
Screenshot from Harry Daniels’ Instagram video
Three sheriff’s deputies have been charged after they were caught on video beating an arrestee at a south Georgia jail, state officials said.
Camden County Corrections Officer Mason Garrick, 23, of Bryceville, Florida; and deputies Ryan Biegel, 24, and Braxton Massey, 21, both of Kingsland, Georgia, were arrested and charged with battery, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Tuesday, Nov. 22.
Each also faces a violation of oath of office, authorities said.
Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor started an investigation last week after a video of the Sept. 3 incident went viral on social media. Security footage shows Garrick, Biegel, Massey and at least two others punching and kicking Jarrett Hobbs, 41, in his cell at the Camden County Jail, authorities said.
“The sheriff’s internal investigation terminated their employment relationship with the Camden County Sheriff’s Office prior to the arrest,” Proctor said in a statement Tuesday. “Two other employees face disciplinary action as a result of an internal investigation by the Sheriff’s Office.”
According to The New York Times, citing Hobbs’ lawyer Harry Daniels, Hobbs, from Greensboro, North Carolina, was being held in jail on charges of traffic violations and possession of a controlled substance.
He was also charged with assaulting Camden County jailers after the attack, according to the newspaper. However, these charges were later dropped.
McClatchy News reached out to Daniels’ office for comment on Wednesday, Nov. 23 and was awaiting a response.
Video footage released by Daniels’ office shows Hobbs in his cell in front of several officers burst in. One of them grabs him by the neck, the others follow him, trying to hold him down, the video shows. (Warning: Video may be disturbing to viewers.)
Seconds later, another security guard enters and begins punching Hobbs in the head several times while the others push and knock him to the ground, the video shows. The officers continue to grapple with Hobbs before dragging him out of his cell and into a hallway where they begin beating him for a second the video shows.
Daniels said jailers claimed Hobbs swore and a knock on the door before a fierce fight, according to WSB-TV.
“Regardless of whether he was using profanity or banging on doors, you still don’t hit a person,” Daniels said, according to the station. “Maybe that prompted them to enter the cell, but it didn’t prompt them to beat the hell out of him.”
He called the deputies’ arrests “the first step toward justice,” writes The New York Times.
Garrick, Biegel and Massey were booked into the Camden Public Safety Complex, the sheriff’s office said.
Camden County is about 100 miles southwest of Savannah.
