The lawsuit over a violent arrest made by a former sheriff’s deputy in Washington County has been settled, but a confidentiality agreement has made details about the settlement sparse, attorneys told Carolina Public Press.
Gary Thomas Jr. and his aunt Mary Moore brought claims of excessive force and unreasonable search and seizure against Jeffrey Aaron Edwards for a violent incident which occurred outside the Washington County Courthouse in March 2022.
Edwards had arrested Thomas for driving with a suspended license and marijuana possession during a traffic stop, then transported him in the back of his vehicle to the courthouse in Plymouth, which houses the sheriff’s office and a detention center.
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Videos of the incident show Edwards removing Thomas from the car, forcing him to the ground and eventually dragging him from the parking lot toward the courthouse.
By that point, Moore had arrived on the scene in order to post Thomas’ bail, and she confronted Edwards while he still had Thomas detained in the parking lot. After ignoring warnings to stay back from the scene, Edwards struck Moore in the face and arrested her.
Videos of the incident circulated widely on social media, and Edwards was fired by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office days afterward. The District Attorney’s office also dropped all charges against Thomas and Moore “in the interests of justice.”
The State Bureau of Investigation looked into the incident to determine whether criminal charges should be filed against Edwards, but none were.
Thomas and Moore filed a federal lawsuit with the help of attorneys from the National Police Accountability Project and Charlotte-based firm Littlejohn Law in 2023. They brought charges against not only Edwards but several other members of the sheriff’s office and Town of Plymouth police officers who had been present during the incident.
In September, the judge presiding over the case dealt a blow to the plaintiffs by dismissing most of their claims except for three brought by Thomas against Edwards.
The remaining claims were narrowly focused on one moment during the arrest in which the two men fell down a set of stairs outside the Washington County Courthouse entrance. (Thomas stated that Edwards pushed him down the stairs while still handcuffed; Edwards contended that Thomas simply slipped and fell.)
The court order removed Moore, then-Sheriff Johnny Barnes, the Town of Plymouth and the other law enforcement officers as parties to the case, leaving only Thomas and Edwards. The judge ordered the pair to reach a settlement agreement or else go to trial.
Thomas’ attorneys with the National Police Accountability Project told CPP on Monday that they had reached a settlement but couldn’t say more because of a confidentiality agreement. Since Thomas sued Edwards in his individual capacity, and not in his official capacity as a law enforcement officer, the terms of the settlement are not public record.
“All that we can say (about the settlement) is confirm that the case has been resolved,” NPAP staff attorney Keisha James said.
Law enforcement certification records show that Edwards joined the sheriff’s office in neighboring Tyrrell County in 2023 despite being fired from Washington County. CPP reported last year that Edwards had also been dismissed from the State Highway Patrol for conduct in 2010.
Edwards is an example of what some criminal justice experts call “wandering officers” — law enforcement officers who find employment elsewhere after being fired from a previous agency.
NPAP executive director and attorney Lauren Bonds said the issue of wandering officers is prevalent all over the United States.
“This is kind of an ongoing issue that we’re seeing across the country, with individual officers who are terminated from one department and then are able to get — sometimes very quickly — rehired in another department and are able to continue the same misconduct and same behavior that they were engaged in at their prior employer at their new employer,” Bonds said.
“So that’s certainly not an issue specific to North Carolina and not specific to this case,” she added.
Tyrrell County Sheriff Kevin Sawyer did not respond to CPP’s request for comment on Edwards’ tumultuous employment history. Edwards himself couldn’t be reached for comment either.
Last January, CPP submitted a records request to the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Education and Training Standards Commission seeking agency separation forms which could shed more light on the details of Edwards’ firing from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. However, the commission still hasn’t responded to that request one year later.
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