Darius Rice, a Black resident of Georgia and a military veteran, is suing Clinch County Deputy April Tinsley and her husband, Sheriff Stephen Tinsley, for his alleged wrongful arrest in April 2022. He compared his treatment to the infamous lynching of Black teen Emmett Till in 1955 in Mississippi after a white woman falsely accused the boy of making unwanted advances.
Inside his freshly filed lawsuit obtained by NewsOne, Rice claimed that he was assaulted, arrested and charged with sexual battery after Deputy Tinsley falsely accused him of groping her as he was exiting a QuickTrip gas station roughly 20 miles south of Atlanta. His girlfriend, Ashley Jackson, was also allegedly attacked during the incident.
According to the lawsuit, Rice was leaving the QuickTrip on April 7, 2022, when Deputy Tinsley aggressively pursued him, alleging he had groped her buttocks. However, surveillance footage from inside the convenience store revealed that their contact was accidental, occurring when Deputy Tinsley backed into Rice’s path. Despite this, Sheriff Tinsley immediately moved to arrest Rice and, without justification, forcefully slammed him onto the concrete, causing him to lose consciousness, the suit, filed on April 9, asserted.
Witnessing the incident, Jackson approached Sheriff and Deputy Tinsley, capturing the scene on her smartphone. In response, Deputy Tinsley confiscated Jackson’s phone, threw it into her vehicle, and attempted to arrest her.
When Jackson tried to reclaim her stolen phone, a physical altercation ensued between her and Deputy Tinsley. At no point before attempting to make the arrest did Tinsley identify herself as a Sheriff’s Deputy or display a badge, the suit stated.
Upon the arrival of additional law enforcement, Deputy Tinsley persisted in her false accusations, accusing Rice of assaulting Sheriff Tinsley. Despite clear video evidence contradicting Deputy Tinsley’s claims, Rice was arrested and charged with…
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