Questions Surrounding a Drug Arrest
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Carroll County authorities said Monday they were told a vehicle with crack cocaine would enter their county. They said at 8:30 p.m, officers pulled a vehicle over matching the description. “They ask to search the car. I said, ‘do you have a warrant?,” said Amy Paige Umstead, 30, of Huntingdon who police said was traveling with her boyfriend and two children, ages six years old and three months old. “They brought the dog. The dog hit. (They) told me to get out. They search the car. They search him,” she said. Authorities said after they removed the children from the vehicle, Umstead was placed under arrest. Upon their return to the vehicle, officers said they witnessed Umstead’s boyfriend, Keith Cason, 39, ingesting what they believe to be an ounce of crack cocaine. Authorities said they wrestled Cason to the ground, who they said resisted arrest. “It didn’t take seven of them to do it to one guy. They were punching him. They were tasing him. They were like ‘put it on his skin. Turn it up,'” said Jiles Yarbrough, a neighbor who said he witnessed the incident. Yarbrough said he believes officers used excessive force in detaining Cason. “When they picked him up he went into a seizure. He didn’t have anything on but his drawers,” he said. Officers said Cason passed out and suffered complications due to the ingestion. Special Agent in Charge John Mehr with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said his agency was called to the scene by the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department at the request of the district attorney. The TBI said although an active investigation is underway concerning the officer’s actions, at this point, nothing points to the officer’s use of excessive force. Umstead said she was unaware of Cason’s possession of crack cocaine. “I did not know that until they said they pulled it out of his mouth,” she said. She said due to his criminal record, Cason is unemployed. “He loves me and his kids and he takes care of us,” said Umstead. The Carroll County Sheriff’s Department decline an on camera interview with 7 Eyewitness News. Cason’s mother said her son is on a respirator in critical condition in a Jackson hospital. Authorities said Umstead faces drug and child neglect charges.
