EXTRA CONTENT: Documents reveal brutality claim settled on behalf of county for $140,000; video of incident released

Read documents related to this story by clicking here

An insurer for the Whitley County Fiscal Court paid a local man $140,000 to settle claims he made against three Whitley County Sheriff’s deputies that they "savagely" beat him during a traffic stop in early May, according to documents obtained by the News Journal this week.

The Kentucky Association of Counties (KACO), on behalf of the Whitley County Fiscal Court, and 53-year-old Delbert Bray agreed to the settlement on Nov. 19 to resolve claims he made regarding the conduct of Sheriff’s deputies Ken Shepherd, John Hill and Joe Prewitt earlier this year. He was originally asking for $500,000. The move came before a formal lawsuit was even filed in the case.

Details of the settlement became clear after the News Journal filed a request under the Kentucky Open Records Act for documents related to the case. Officials would not divulge details of the settlement when asked last week. It was only revealed at when a request for records was fulfilled. Most of the documents obtained consisted of emails and letters between Bray’s attorney, P. Stewart Abney, of Louisville, and KACO lawyers.

Whitley County Sheriff Colan Harrell said Tuesday that he was always opposed to the settlement and defended his deputies.

"This settlement was made without my permission. This was somebody else’s thing to do this … to make this settlement," Harrell said. "It was completely out of my hands. I just think it wasn’t right for John and Joe and Ken. These are excellent, excellent deputies."

Like nearly every Kentucky county, Whitley County pays a premium to the KACO "All Lines Fund" which is, essentially, an insurance policy that covers things like employee misconduct and other claims.

What happened?

The legal wrangling centers around an incident that took place May 5 of this year. According to documents uncovered by the News Journal, Bray was in a truck that night and tried to evade a police roadblock set up near the intersection of Keswick Road and Fayette Lane in southern Whitley County.

According to a citation issued in the case, Bray was driving the vehicle and backed up in the roadway to avoid the checkpoint. When officers gave pursuit, he "drove through the front and side yard of the first residence on Red Hill Road and came to rest in the back yard behind the home."

Police say he tried to flee on foot, but was captured and placed under arrest.

He was taken to Baptist Regional Medical Center for medical treatment. Blood test results show that his blood/alcohol content was .16 – twice the legal limit. He was charged with third-offense DUI, fleeing or evading police and for driving on a DUI suspended license.

Two sides

Details regarding the criminal charges, and what happened during Bray’s arrest were always hotly contested and shrouded in mystery.

Police and KACO attorneys claimed Bray was the lone occupant in the vehicle the night he was arrested and was also driving.
Bray died Nov. 30 of cancer, but his sister, Ruth Elswick, said her brother was not driving. She said his second cousin was actually behind the wheel.

Abney disputed the claim as well in a letter threatening litigation, saying officers knew Bray was not the driver. Several facts, at least on this point, seem to shade in Bray’s favor.

Police radio traffic between officers and the Whitley County E-911 Center reveal officers knew that another occupant of the vehicle ran off and got away while the other, presumably Bray, was in custody.

And, a homeowner’s surveillance camera video footage of the incident shows a truck drive into view between 8:54 and 8:55 p.m. on May 5 with one person getting out of the driver’s side of the vehicle and running off. A mere two seconds later, police flashlights are seen shining on Bray as he wanders around near the passenger side of the vehicle. He promptly gets down on the ground, face down, and is handcuffed.

Officers can be seen, eventually, walking in the direction the other man fled and walk around the scene for quite some time before taking Bray away in a cruiser.

Shepherd was the arresting officer in the case.

Harrell said the charges filed against Bray were based only on what his deputies believed happened that night, and denies any wrongdoing took place.

"It was their thought that he was driving the care, obviously, or he would never have been charged with that," Harrell said. "Sometimes, these guys will switch drivers."

Strange circumstances

Another bone of contention was the long delay in any attempt to prosecute Bray in the local courts.

Though he was apparently issued a citation the night of the incident, charges were never filed in Whitley District Court until Aug. 13 – over three months later.

Chief Sheriff’s Deputy K.Y. Fuson told KACO officials that Bray’s threat of litigation reminded police they needed to file charges in the case.

Abney provided a more conspiratorial explanation for the delay, at first saying deputies were trying to cover up the incident, then in a letter dated Sept. 27 to KACO Claims Service representative John Sparks and London Attorney Jason Williams, who represented KACO, saying it was a form of intimidation.

"The fact that the Uniform Citation provided a court date of 5/28/2012, Memorial Day, further supports a finding that the Department had no intention of filing the fabricated citation at the time it was issued, but rather was using it as a form of intimidation."

Harrell denied any foul motives associated with the delay and said it was merely a paperwork snafu.

"We never tried to hide anything," he said. "Sometimes paperwork gets lost in the courthouse and in the mechanics of the court system. This is not the first time it has happened and I doubt it will be the last."

Claims of brutality

What exactly happened to Bray the night he was arrested depends entirely on whom you ask.

Bray’s attorney boasts confidently in settlement negotiation letters between he and KACO that surveillance video of Bray’s arrest "corroborates" his client’s most serious account of events – that he was dragged from the back of a police cruiser, thrown to the ground and beaten while handcuffed because he would not divulge to police the name of the man who was actually driving the vehicle.

The video footage in question was provided to the News Journal Monday. A thorough review of the video reveals little about what transpired between Bray and the officers. Much of it is obscured by headlights and a police cruiser that cuts off direct line of sight to Bray and the officers. Also, the poor quality of the footage makes it difficult to discern whether Bray was beaten or not.

In any event, Bray somehow suffered a fractured rib, and cuts and bruises to his face, left knee, chest, and shoulder.

Photographs taken by family members shortly after the incident show Bray with multiple injuries. At least one of the cuts to his head required stitches.

When he was initially contacted by the News Journal about the incident, Harrell said he did not know what exactly happened. A week later, he told WKYT-TV in an on-camera interview that Bray received the injuries because he fell.

Harrell said Tuesday one of the officers who was at the scene that night informed him Bray was hurt in a fall.

No internal investigation was ever conducted regarding the arrest or accusations of brutality. Harrell said Kentucky State Police were going to complete an investigation into the officer’s actions, but were told it was not necessary since KACO decided to settle the case before it could be wrapped up.

None of the officers were ever disciplined.

Letters and emails obtained by the News Journal from Bray’s attorney and KACO officials reveal that settlement negotiations over the alleged beating started fairly far apart. Abney said he was initially authorized to accept $500,000 to settle on Bray’s behalf or he would file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in London. KACO offered only $50,000 in return. Abney reduced demands to $475,000, $425,000 and $325,000, while KACO counter-offered at $100,000. The back and forth ended with an agreement at $140,000.

Pursuant to the agreement, Bray was forced to pay the nearly $1,200 in medical expenses he incurred from the incident out of the settlement. It also barred him from making any future claims against the county regarding his arrest.

In the agreement, several other people supposedly at the scene of the arrest besides Hill, Shepherd and Prewitt were named.

They include: Greg Rhodes, Brian Kirby and Daniel Whitehead.