GRUNDY COUNTY, Tenn. — A Grundy County deputy is facing a federal lawsuit after a man with schizophrenia allegedly suffered 12 broken ribs during an encounter with law enforcement earlier this year.
The lawsuit accuses Grundy County Deputy David Young of using excessive force against Edwin Congdon during a February 13 incident. According to the complaint, Young tackled Congdon and punched him twice while another deputy failed to intervene.
Congdon’s sister, Tonya McCarver, says the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office was already familiar with her brother and his mental health condition.
In an interview with WTVC-TV, McCarver explained that deputies had responded to her brother’s home during previous mental health crises. She said officers had previously been able to calm him down through conversation and had even contacted her for assistance.
McCarver described her brother as having the mental capacity of a teenager and questioned why deputies handled the February encounter differently from previous incidents.
Body camera footage from the encounter reportedly captures Young making a threatening remark to Congdon.
“I tried to be gentle with you at first. Now you make me want to fight somebody,” Young is heard saying in the footage.
McCarver told the TV station that she realized her brother was injured after picking him up from jail. She took him to a hospital, where she says doctors diagnosed him with 12 broken ribs.
Congdon’s attorney, Robin Flores, says the injuries caused significant pain and required a lengthy recovery.
The federal lawsuit seeks $1.5 million in damages from Young, another deputy and Grundy County. The complaint alleges Congdon’s civil rights were violated during the encounter.
The lawsuit also raises questions about the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office’s hiring practices. Flores alleges county officials have repeatedly hired deputies despite having access to concerning information about their backgrounds.
Young is also named in a separate excessive-force lawsuit involving the family of Ronnie Ledbetter.
Attorneys representing Ledbetter’s family issued a statement in response to the allegations involving Congdon, expressing concern about the sheriff’s office’s hiring, training and retention practices.
Debbie Boudreaux, speaking on behalf of Ledbetter’s family, said the number of serious incidents involving Grundy County officers suggests broader problems within the department that warrant accountability.
McCarver says she wants the deputies involved in her brother’s encounter held responsible for their actions. She questioned how an officer sworn to serve and protect the public could make the statements heard in the body camera footage.
The allegations have not been proven in court. At the time of WTVC-TV’s report, the federal complaint had not yet been served on the defendants.
