New ‘Goon Squad’ lawsuit accuses K-9 attack on handcuffed suspect

• Members of the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department reportedly pointed a K-9 at a man who was handcuffed to the ground.

A new lawsuit against named and unnamed members of the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department alleges additional civil rights violations occurred as part of the actions of the department’s “Goon Squad.”

The lawsuit filed by Christopher Bobbie Adams alleges that Rankin County Sheriff’s Department Chief Investigator Christian Dedmon, Sheriff’s Department K-9 handler Tony Shack and at least four other unnamed officers participated in an incident were involved in which Adams was injured. Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Adams claims a K-9 named “VooDoo” was directed by Shack to attack Adams after he was arrested, handcuffed and placed on the ground.

Adams’ civil complaint details his version of events at the time of the arrest. The alleged events occurred on May 1, 2021, when Adams was arrested for selling methamphetamine to a confidential informant. According to Adams, after completing the transaction with the confidential informant, law enforcement officers attempted to arrest him, but he fled on foot. Adams says he later decided to hide in a ditch along the same trail he had originally used and reportedly waited for officers to return so he could surrender.

After the last officer passed the hideout, Adams called the officer and asked to be handcuffed, according to the complaint. Adams claims he was then handcuffed and placed on the floor in a sitting position. After Adams was handcuffed and sat down, Sparks allegedly pointed the K-9 at Adams, causing the dog to bite the victim multiple times on the left foot and left leg, the lawsuit says.

Eight minutes after he was taken into custody, dispatch received a call that Adams needed medical attention. Adams suffered stab wounds and crushed and dislocated bones in his left foot during the K-9 attack, the civil lawsuit says.

Adams details the injuries he sustained during the dog attack, including “his left foot, which extended to his thigh, was torn, bruised and torn during VooDoo’s attack, requiring extensive surgery.” Additionally, a stab wound was sustained in the Mid-calf area noted.

According to Adams, law enforcement officers on the scene then fabricated a false narrative about how Adams came to be attacked by VooDoo. Dedmon, who recently pleaded guilty and was convicted in two separate civil rights violation cases that drew national attention, reported that Adams was injured by the dog while fleeing and that the injuries sustained were the result of Adams attempting to kill the dog Kicking dog to avoid capture. Adams claims that officers used the story to explain the excessive number of stab wounds he suffered.

Dedmons’ report did not include the names of the other officers who were at the scene during Adams’ arrest.

The lawsuit specifically states that Dedmon is “affiliated with Rankin County’s ‘Goon Squad.’

The Rankin County “Goon Squad” gained notoriety when five members of the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department and a Richland police officer pleaded guilty in the January 2023 raid on a home occupied by two black men. Dedmon, Bret McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton, Hunter Elward, Daniel Opdyke and Joshua Hartfield beat and tortured Eddie Parker and Michael Jenkins. During the incident, Jenkins was shot through the jaw and neck by Elward, who had placed the gun in the victim’s mouth. All six officers pleaded guilty to numerous civil rights violations and were sentenced to decades in prison on federal and state charges

Dedmon, who during the attack threatened to sodomize at least one of the men with a sex toy found in the house, fired his firearm and played an active role in devising a cover-up tactic that included smuggling drugs, received the harshest sentences of all officials for his role – 25 years for his state conviction and 40 years for his federal conviction. The two sets are executed simultaneously.

Regarding Sheriff Bryan Bailey, Adams claims in his lawsuit, “Under defendant Sheriff Bryan Bailey, the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department maintained a group of law enforcement officers called ‘The Goon Squad.'” The Goon Squad was specifically tasked with using illegal methods “to abuse and intimidate individuals whom the sheriff and other defendant Rankin County employees deemed undesirable or otherwise unworthy of protection.” The claim also states that those deemed “undesirable” were often Black.

Ahead of the sentencing in the Goon Squad case this year, reports emerged of additional abuses allegedly committed by officers connected to the case. During sentencing hearings on the January 2023 incident, victims and defendants repeatedly cited a culture within the department that condoned misconduct. The authorities, and ultimately the jury, will be asked to examine whether the events alleged in this and possible future proceedings actually occurred.

Read the full submission below.