Local

Couple suing sheriff's office after semi-nude arrest

GREENE COUNTY, Ga. — A local couple has filed a civil suit after they were arrested and taken to jail nude from the waist down.

"It was humiliating. I can't even describe how I felt," Megan Mitchell told Channel 2's Liz Artz.

Mitchell said she and her boyfriend, Clifton Jackson, were arrested by the Greene County Sheriff's Office on delinquency charges.

The charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence.

It's not the arrest they're upset about, though. Mitchell's attorney says the night the couple was questioned,three deputies came to their house at 11 p.m., demanded to come inside without a search warrant and then arrested the pair while they were wearing nothing but a sweater and a hoodie.

"There (were) people standing outside in the yard and driveway," Mitchell said.

Mitchell says she was not given clothes until after she was led through the jail to the booking area.

Her attorney, Brian Spears, took a photo to demonstrate how Mitchell would have been exposed while in handcuffs, with no clothing or underwear on underneath her sweater.

"One's humanity tells you this should not happen, period," said Brian Spears, Mitchell's attorney

Greene County Sheriff Chris Houston agrees. An internal investigation concluded the three deputies violated several policies, including bad conduct and neglect.

Houston said Cpl. Harvey Stewart was in charge that night and resigned immediately. Deputies David Whirrell and Michael Maxey were both suspended without pay over the incident.

"I will never hesitate to identify an officer's poor actions," Houston told Artz Saturday. "Stewart's behavior was not characteristic of what we were accustomed to seeing."

Houston said they work hard to keep conduct like Stewart's out of their profession. Mitchell says by suing she hopes the deputies will feel the same humiliation she felt.

"They wouldn't want (anybody) doing that to their daughter or son," Mitchell said.

Mitchell's boyfriend is also suing the three deputies with a different attorney. The deputies are expected to give depositions next month.

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