CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. — Three Camden County Sheriff’s Office employees have been indicted for battery and violation of oath in relation to the brutal beating of inmate Jarrett Hobbs last year.
Yesterday, the Camden County Grand Jury returned the indictment against Camden County Sheriff’s Deputy Corporal Brian Beagle, and Detention Officers Corporal Mason Garrick and Officer Braxton Massey.
The GBI arrested Beagle, Garrick and Massey on Nov. 22. All three bonded from jail. The case was presented to the Camden County Grand Jury on May 17.
On Sept. 3, 2022, jail video shows Hobbs pacing around his cell, sitting down and occasionally standing at the door. Attorneys said Hobbs was having a psychological episode and banged on the door.
In a separate video that was provided by the attorneys, you can hear a loud bang as one officer was walking away while another inmate was in the area. After the loud noise, an officer turns around to Hobbs' cell and more officers follow behind. That leads to the moment showing prison officers trying to restrain Hobbs, but they start punching him.
Eventually, they move outside his cell while the beating continues. Hobbs can be heard screaming in pain in the video with audio attached. One correctional officer can be heard telling him to "stop resisting." Later on, they were able to put Hobbs in a restraining chair. Video shows he was pushed repeatedly into his bed and then the door closes behind him.
The Glynn County District Attorney's Office has since dropped all criminal charges against Hobbs.
Hobbs was initially arrested for speeding, driving with a suspended/revoked license and possessing a controlled substance. Attorneys said he suffered a chipped tooth, swelling and one of his locs was ripped from his head. After the beating, they said he was put in confinement for two more weeks.
Hobbs is represented by civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels and Bakari Sellers. They released the following statement responding to news of the indictment:
This indictment further demonstrates that the people will not tolerate this kind of abuse just because the abusers wear a badge.
That being said, let’s be clear. The culture of violence and corruption at this detention center and the Camden County Sheriff’s Office do not begin or end with these officers or the beating that occurred on September 3, 2022.
Sheriff Jim Proctor did his best to ignore this incident and his deputies’ crimes and sweep them under the rug. In fact, it wasn’t until we released this video of the beating that anything happened at all and then, it wasn’t Sheriff Proctor who took action. It was the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Combine that with multiple other incidents like the May 4, 2021 killing of 37-year-old Latoya James and the pattern of violence at the Camden County Sheriff’s Office becomes clear and we won’t rest until it’s stopped. Lives are at stake.
Hobbs' attorneys said in a previous press release they reached a "significant settlement" with the Camden County Sheriff’s Office.
