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Third civil rights lawsuit filed against Crawford County and former deputy

The most recent lawsuit alleges a woman was thrown to the ground by a deputy, in a show of excessive force.

CRAWFORD COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office faces another federal civil rights lawsuit involving claims of excessive force by a former deputy.

The sheriff's office fired Zack King for his involvement in the violent arrest of a man outside a Mulberry convenience store last summer. He's named in a lawsuit related to that incident and now two others.

In total, three federal lawsuits have been filed against King since that video surfaced this summer. 

The latest suit filed this month also lists Crawford County, the Sheriff, and the Sheriff’s Office as defendants.

Crawford County deputies were called to the home of Polly Risenhoover in May 2021 after reports of somebody threateningly presenting a gun.

According to a lawsuit filed in federal court, deputies asked everyone to come out of the home and they eventually did. Risenhoover says she asked former deputy Zack King why they were at her home because she hadn’t done anything wrong.

“At this point. I believe deputy King was getting frustrated with her. She had already been patted down. She had no weapons or contraband on her at this time. And in that frustration, he ended up tackling her to the ground and putting her in handcuffs even though no charges were ever pressed,” said Adam Rose, representation for Risenhoover.

Rose says physical force simply wasn't necessary.

“I believe it was it's another example of this particular officer using force and not de-escalating an unnecessary situation where no danger was posed to him or the other officers at all. Yet force was still the first thing that was resorted to and it just shouldn't have been in this scenario,” Rose said.

There is no video of the incident. Rose says former Deputy King kneed Risenhoover in the back and twisted her arms behind her back—leaving her with multiple injuries. Deputy King alleges Risenhoover attempted to slap him.

“There were no marks on officer King to substantiate that. And again... tackling her to the ground... a 65-year-old unarmed woman is just not the appropriate response,” Rose said.

Rose has also filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Sarah Trammell who was also involved in an incident with former deputy Zack King in June 2022. 

Trammell says she was walking in Van Buren when king responded to her location after someone reported she was going into a vehicle that wasn’t hers.

She refused to give King her correct last name and that’s when he allegedly aggressively attempted to put her arms behind her back to handcuff her without telling her why he was doing so. 

That’s when she alleges a physical altercation started where King repeatedly pushed, punched, and tased Trammell in the face, head, and stomach, respectively.

King and the sheriff's office are named in a third civil rights lawsuit filed by Randal Worcester, the man at the center of that violent arrest in Mulberry.
5News reached out to the Crawford County Sheriff's Office, but are still waiting for a response. 

Zack King’s attorney, Russell Wood says his client denies these absurd allegations and looks forward to the actual facts being presented.

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