Charges dropped in April 20 incident

Charges and fines filed against India Lewis and Courtney Freeman following an April 20 traffic stop on Wilson Street have been dropped, and two Thomson police officers have been formally reprimanded in connection with the incident.

According to the Thomson Police Department incident report, on April 20, at approximately 7:30 p.m., Patrolman Judson Holmes stopped a white Dodge Challenger driven by Courtney Freeman and eventually issued Freeman with several traffic violations. His passenger, India Lewis, reportedly continued to use her phone when she was asked to stop and attempted to elude officers. She was then arrested by Sergeant Nathan Salyer. A third officer, Anthony Shelton, eventually arrived at the scene as well.

Jackie Morgan, a Thomson resident who witnessed the incident, appeared before Thomson City Council in mid-May and called for the officers to be investigated for using degrading and threatening language and for including false and inaccurate information in the incident report. She also accused the officers of using excessive force against Lewis during her arrest.

Thomson Police Chief Dan Carrier has placed Holmes and Salyer on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI). The GBI only investigated the allegation of excessive force and determined that the officers’ conduct was not criminal.

Through Freedom of Information Act requests made by The McDuffie Progress to the Thomson Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office, the newspaper obtained documents and body camera footage related to the incident.

According to a dismissal order filed June 21 by District Attorney Bill Doupe in McDuffie County Superior Court, his office declined to prosecute Lewis for obstructing police. The first two reasons state that while the District Attorney’s office had a reasonable suspicion, it was unable to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt and that the dismissal was in the best interest of justice.

The third reason given by the order is the conduct of the officials.

“This office has reviewed the body-worn camera videos of the incident in question, as well as the corresponding incident report. Due to the manner in which this incident was handled, including the interactions between the officers, the driver of the vehicle in question, and the defendant before, during, and after the arrest, this case cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” it said.

After Morgan appeared before the City Council, the McDuffie Progress newspaper requested the body-worn camera footage of all three Thomson Police Department officers, but the request was denied because the case was still pending at the time. However, when the newspaper submitted its request for information to the District Attorney’s Office, copies of the body-worn camera footage were included in the response because the case had already been dismissed at that time. The footage is linked at the end of this story.

When asked about his reaction to the district attorney’s dismissal of the case against Lewis, Thomson Police Chief Dan Carrier said little.

“He’s the district attorney,” he said. Following that action, Carrier voided the traffic tickets issued against driver Courtney Freeman.

“If the other case doesn’t move forward, there’s no point in continuing with them,” the chief said.

Following its review of the incident, Carrier issued both Holmes and Salyer formal written job performance reprimands based on their conduct during the incident.

“They were reprimanded and had a meeting with me,” the chief said. “Sgt. Salyer was reprimanded for trying to remain professional and de-escalate the situation. For Officer Holmes, it was … the reason for his stop should be the first thing he says.”

Copies of the written warnings indicate that “continued violations … may result in more severe disciplinary action, up to and including termination.”

Each reprimand lists the specific violations with which the officials are accused.

“I discussed the incident with Officer Holmes and advised him that although he may have committed multiple violations for which he could prosecute a driver, he should first point out the probable cause offense before considering additional offenses,” the warning addressed to Holmes states.

The warning addressed to Salyer states: “I discussed the incident with Sergeant Salyer and was able to understand the human factor and his frustration with the incident, but reminded him that we must try to put our emotions aside, remain professional and de-escalate the situation.”

Aside from the citations, Carrier said the entire department is undergoing additional de-escalation training, although that annual training was already conducted in early February of this year. He said he hopes this can prevent similar incidents in the future.

“I hope it doesn’t happen again, but we’re only human. We’re going to train and keep working on it,” Carrier said. “I wasn’t happy with what I saw. That’s definitely something we need to work on. We’ve dealt with it and I hope we don’t see something like that again.”

Below you will find links to the body-worn camera footage of the officers involved, provided by the public prosecutor’s office:

This is body-worn camera footage from Officer Judson Holmes, who stopped Courtney Freeman’s vehicle on April 20.

This is body-worn camera footage of Sergeant Nathan Salyer, who arrested India Lewis at the scene and transported her to the McDuffie County Jail.

This is body-worn camera footage from Officer Anthony Shelton, who arrived on the scene around the time India Lewis was arrested.

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