Bodycam shows HCSO Det. Blake Kilpatrick kicking and punching handcuffed suspect Charles Toney
By: New body camera footage and phone call recordings provide more evidence for an excessive force case between a Hamilton County deputy and a Chattanooga rapper during a 2018 arrest.
The footage of that arrest went viral 5 years ago. It shows Hamilton County Detective Blake Kilpatrick kicking and punching a handcuffed suspect later identified as Charles Toney, whose stage name is 'Interstate Tax.'
Toney's attorneys later sued the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, accusing Deputy Kilpatrick of excessive force. They also argued Kilpatrick was not properly disciplined.
Then-Sheriff Jim Hammond placed Kilpatrick on leave, even though he claimed Toney bit him and kept reaching for something in his pocket. Kilpatrick returned to duty in 2021, and Toney's charges were eventually dropped.
This latest body cam footage from Chattanooga Police Officer Colton Krumrie allows us to view the moments after Toney's arrest.
You can hear Kilpatrick call Toney 'an idiot' and 'dumb' after he claims Toney resisted arrest.
We also received a federal deposition where Krumrie answered questions about the incident.
An attorney for Toney asks Krumrie if he believed the force used by Kilpatrick was excessive.
Although arguing that Toney resisted arrest "more than anyone I've ever seen," Officer Krumrie admitted that he believed Kilpatrick's use of force was excessive, saying "I wouldn't have hit him in the head."
Toney's attorneys argued that he sustained numerous broken bones from the arrest.
"There were no injuries that required hospitalization, stitches, or any further treatment at the hospital," says Jim Hammond.
Although then Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond said Toney didn't need medical attention, Toney's attorney provided medical doents in a lawsuit against Kilpatrick and Hammond, showing that he was treated for several broken bones.
"He suffered a collapsed lung, a broken nose, a broken digit, several broken ribs."
And in a phone call from Silverdale right after the arrest, Toney detailed the extent of his injuries to his girlfriend.
"He pulled up and said 'Interstate Tax, I don't like your rap music, and he punched my a. Then he started banging my head against the ground,'" said Toney in the call. "The nose broke and everything."
While telling his daughter that he'd be home soon...
"I heard your nose is broke?"
"Yeah, I had an accident. I'm ok."
All charges against Toney were dropped, but Toney's lawsuit against Kilpatrick and Hammond is still ongoing.
Last month their attorneys filed a motion asking for summary judgement in the case, meaning a judge, not a jury, will deliver a verdict.