Whitley Co. Sheriff’s Dept. denies wrongdoing in Coker lawsuit

The Whitley County Sheriff’s Department is denying wrongdoing in connection with a federal lawsuit alleging false arrest and excessive force stemming from an incident in early 2021.

Williamsburg’s Robert L. Coker filed suit on Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in London against Whitley County, Sheriff Todd Shelley, and deputies Chad Estep and James Coffey.

On Jan. 30, Estep arrested Coker for resisting arrest, but the charge that was later dismissed.

Attorney Jason Williams has filed an answer to the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in London on behalf of Whitley County, Shelley, Estep and Coffey.

In the lawsuit, Williams cited 23 possible defenses, which include but are not limited to: the complaint fails to state claim upon which relief can be granted, the Doctrine of Legislative Immunity, statute of limitations, Doctrine of Sovereign Immunity, and Doctrines of Absolute and/or Qualified Immunity.

“The defendants deny any mistreatment of the plaintiff,” Williams wrote.

The answer denies allegations of wrongdoing, and it asserts that the defendants are entitled to act in self-defense to protect themselves and others from serious physical injury or death.

The answer requests the complaint be dismissed and for their costs herein expended, to attorney fees, to a trial by jury, and to all other relief to which they appear entitled.

Lawsuit allegations

On Jan. 30, deputies were dispatched to investigate a 911 call from a woman reporting that she was threatened by a violator of an emergency protective order, according to the lawsuit and other court documents.

When deputies arrived at the residence from which the call had been placed, Coker exited a nearby garage where he had been working on cars, the lawsuit stated.

“Plaintiff (Coker) asked the deputies what was going on. The deputies immediately directed that plaintiff put his hands behind his back and told him he was under arrest,” according to the lawsuit.

“Plaintiff asked ‘What for? What did I do?’, but was immediately thrown to the concrete surface on which he was standing, was handcuffed, and was then ‘drive-stun’ tased multiple times despite the fact that he was already restrained and pleading with the deputies to stop. Only then did the deputies search the residence from which the 911 call had been placed and found no one there,” the lawsuit explained.

McCreary County Attorney Austin Price, who served as special prosecutor in the case, shed some additional light on the case in an April brief filed in response to a motion to dismiss the resisting arrest charge.

Price noted that the female caller to 911 told dispatchers she was barricaded inside the home with her children.

Estep was unaware that the female 911 caller and the male, who was allegedly trying to enter the home, had left the property prior to his arrival, Price wrote.

When Estep arrived at the scene, he saw that Coker, whose identity he did not know at that point, had a metal bolt clinched in his fist. Estep observed Coker had glossy looking eyes, and was not responsive to his instruction, Price’s brief stated.

Court documents indicate that the glossy looking eyes came from being inside the garage with paint fumes.

On June 21, special Judge John Chappell signed an order dismissing the case noting that the law enforcement officer did not have probable cause to arrest Coker.