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Jailer Arrested For Repeatedly Tasing Inmate

Cheatham County Jail Tasing Lawsuit Settled
Posted at 1:15 PM, Sep 07, 2017
and last updated 2021-03-10 17:02:30-05

A Cheatham County jail employee has been placed behind bars in the jail where he used to work.

The arrest followed a NewsChannel 5 investigation into the repeated tasing of an inmate who was strapped to a restraint chair.

Former jailer Mark Bryant has been charged with four counts of aggravated assault and one count of official misconduct.

Read More: Cheatham Co. Jailer Charged With Assault Of Inmate

Video obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates showed officers repeatedly tasing 18-year-old Jordan Norris while he was strapped to a restraint chair last November.

Norris had been arrested on drug and weapons charges.

Officers claimed Norris continued to resist them, so they used handheld tasers to repeatedly stun him.

After our story aired, the District Attorney General, Ray Crouch, asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to investigate.

Wednesday, a Cheatham County Grand Jury returned indictments against officer Mark Bryant.

The TBI said the investigation was not over.

Norris told NewsChannel 5 Investigates that he remembered officers saying they would stun him until they ran out of batteries.

"Asking do you want me to do it again, and we got a whole bunch of batteries we can drain into pretty much. We will do it over and over until we have no more," Norris said.

Sheriff Mike Breedlove initially said officers acted appropriately, but after our story aired, he asked for a full investigation and said he had not seen all of the video of the incident.

The TBI investigation determined Bryant used a stun gun on Norris at least four times.

One instance lasted approximately 25 seconds after Norris loosened his arm from the restraint chair.

Bryant will be in court September 11.

Other officers were involved, but right on now only Bryant has been charged.

Norris has sued the officers involved.