LOGAN COUNTY, Ark. — A former Paris police officer arrested in 2019 for using unnecessary force against an inmate at the Logan County Detention Center has pled guilty to Second-Degree Battery. He will lose his law enforcement certification upon conviction, be placed on 48 months of probation, and pay a $1,500 fine along with court fees.
On September 14, 2019, a man and woman were arrested after a domestic call and put into separate cells at the Logan County Detention Center. An arrest affidavit states that while the man was in custody, former officer Christopher Brownlow entered his cell, insisted that he must cuff the man to a chair, and then kneed him in the face without warning, and for no apparent reason.
According to an arrest warrant issued for Brownlow in 2019, the man was lying on the cot in the cell during the incident. The other officer who was there to question the suspect stated he did not ask Brownlow to enter the cell. The man reportedly had seven fractures to his face and had surgery to put a titanium plate and screws implanted where Brownlow allegedly injured him, the report states.
Paris Police Chief John O'Brien told 5NEWS at the time of the incident that former officer Brownlow was placed on leave in September of 2019 after the altercation and was fired on Jan. 6, 2020.
A year following the incident, Sept. 25, 2020, Brownlow appeared in court where he pled guilty to Second-Degree Battery for assaulting the inmate. He was sentenced to 48 months (four years) of probation, ordered to pay at $1,500 fine, and $500 in various court fines and fees. Brownlow was also forced to give up his law enforcement certification upon conviction.