Federal grand jury indicts two Grundy Co. Sheriff's Officers on excessive force charges
GRUNDY COUNTY, Tenn. — A federal grand jury has indicted two Grundy County Sheriff's Officers on excessive force charges.
The U.S. Department of Justice says on Wednesday the grand jury, based in Chattanooga, indicted 29-year-old Anthony "T.J." Bean (pictured below at left) and 59-year-old Anthony "Tony" Bean (pictured below at right) for "using excessive force against arrestees."
The indictment charges Deputy Chief Tony Bean and Deputy T.J. Bean with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law in violation of 18 U.S.C. 242, for an incident involving an arrestee identified by the initials F.M.. The indictment alleges that the defendants, while serving with the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office, used unreasonable force when they assaulted and injured arrestee F.M. in December 2017.
The indictment additionally charges Tony Bean with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law in violation of 18 U.S.C. 242 for an incident involving arrestee C.G. The indictment alleges that, while serving as Chief of Police with the Tracy City Police Department, Tony Bean used unreasonable force when he assaulted and injured arrestee C.G. in August 2014.
The Department of Justice says each of the counts carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
We have reached out to Grundy County Sheriff Clint Shrum for comment. He released the following statement Wednesday afternoon, acknowledging the indictments:
"The investigation into the alleged incident has been ongoing for nearly a year. The Sheriff’s Office has cooperated with the Department of Justice through the investigation and will continue to do so. This is certainly not the outcome we expected. Currently, I am considering my options regarding their employment status within the agency."
This is a developing story and will be updated.
