NC trooper put man in chokehold and said, ‘This is how they taught me,’ lawsuit says

A new federal lawsuit claims that a disabled Vietnam veteran was beaten and choked in his front yard by a gang of attackers.

“Except the gang was wearing badges and uniforms,” one of his attorney says.

In fact, Jerry Baxter’s complaint alleges that four North Carolina state troopers came onto his Lincoln County property without warrants in 2018, refused to leave, then beat and choked Baxter in front of his wife and 4-year-old grandson — to the point that the then-69-year-old thought he was about to die.

The court filing names troopers Randall Lee Neal, Brian Matthew Black, Joshua Lee Craig and Chuck Lee, and accuses them of assault, federal and state constitutional violations, excessive force, malicious conduct, among other claims.

“It’s bad enough if this had happened in a bar,” said Asheville attorney George Hyler, a member of Baxter’s legal team. “But what’s most offensive is that it happened in his own house and in his own yard, and in front of his wife and grandson. That to me is pretty egregious.”

A spokesman for the N.C. State Highway Patrol said Monday that the office could not comment on a pending legal case. The Attorney General’s Office, which will defend the officers, also did not respond.

Baxter’s lawsuit surfaces as the country continues to debate the use of force by law enforcement officers. In this case, the incident occurred not in an urban area but along a rural road outside of Cherryville, about 60 miles west of Charlotte.

Outside Baxter’s family members, there were no witnesses. Hyler and co-counsel Stephen Angan told the Observer on Friday that they will be seeking videos from the officers involved.

‘Can’t breathe’

Late on the afternoon of Feb. 28, 2018, according to the lawsuit, Baxter had driven to a nearby grocery store for milk when his phone rang.

It was Susie, his wife. She told him state troopers had come to the couple’s home looking for their son, Travis.

Hyler said the officers suspected that Travis Baxter had been involved in a car wreck that day in which a woman had been injured. They also believed Travis had been drinking and had left the scene to sober up before officers found him.

When Baxter arrived at home, according to the lawsuit, he found six state trooper cars parked in his yard.

Asked about his son’s whereabouts, Jerry Baxter told the officers that 90 minutes before he had dropped Travis off at a nearby home that the Baxters owned where Travis had been staying. If he’s not there, the father said, according to the lawsuit, he did not know where he was.

“You’re a liar,” Neal responded, according to the complaint.

“No sir, I’m being truthful,” Jerry Baxter said.

“What’s that in your right hand?” the trooper asked.

“It’s my car keys,” Jerry Baxter said.

“No, it’s a weapon,” Neal said, according to the lawsuit.

The confrontation quickly escalated. Baxter, according to the lawsuit, said he wanted to call his attorney, but the troopers stopped him. When he tried to walk to his house, they surrounded him.

Without warning, according to the lawsuit, Black punched his right index finger inside Baxter’s mouth, drawing blood from his lip and tongue.

Baxter told him that if he did it again, he’d bite the finger off.

When Baxter told the troopers to leave his property if they didn’t have a search warrant, Lee keyed Baxter’s car, according to the lawsuit. A photo of the damage is included with the filed complaint.

Baxter, according to the complaint, then told his wife to go to the house and call the FBI. He saw Neal give a thumbs-down gesture to the other troopers.

Several of the officers then Baxter to the ground. Black applied a chokehold. “This is how they taught me in school,” the trooper told him, according to the lawsuit.

While two troopers held his arms behind him, Craig began punching him, the lawsuit says. Neal attached a metal handcuff and used it to scrape and bruise Baxter’s arm and wrist. All the while, according to the lawsuit, Black kept up the chokehold and Baxter began thinking that the troopers intended to kill him.

“Can’t breathe,” Baxter said three of four times, according to the complaint.

According the events in the lawsuit, the entire ordeal could have been avoided.

After Jerry Baxter was handcuffed and put in a squad car, the lawsuit says, he watched his wife and grandson lead a caravan of troopers to the home less then a mile away. Susie unlocked the door. The officers found Travis inside, the lawsuit says, just as his parents had told them they would.

Jerry Baxter was later convicted in Lincoln County District Court of resisting, delaying or obstructing a public officer.

He has appealed.