Police body camera video of Virginia deputies showing them slamming a man into the back of a truck and taking him to the pavement to arrest him made national news last year.
Now, a grand jury has indicted the men.
A grand jury indicted Warren County Sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Poe for unlawful wounding and former deputy Zachary Fadley with malicious wounding for their actions following a traffic stop in April 2022.
Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth, who is acting as special prosecutor on the case, confirmed the indictment.
The indictment comes more than a year after Ralph Ennis’s family filed suit, claiming the deputies used excessive force against the 77-year-old Pennsylvania man who had early signs of dementia.
Ennis refused to stop for nearly 4 miles before pulling over at a 7-Eleven in Front Royal. In the video, which came from a body camera worn by a Front Royal Police Department officer who observed Ennis’s April 2 arrest, one deputy runs up to Ennis who was standing still. The deputy pushes Ennis’ face into the truck’s back windshield. Then with another deputy, Ennis is tackled to the ground.
The Front Royal officer who observed the arrest called the deputies’ actions “f — unjust” and “un-f— -called-for.”
Ennis died from complications of a brain bleed two weeks later.
WTOP’s Jack Moore contributed to this report.
