Fired Citronelle police officer charged with beating inmate

By Brendan Kirby

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    MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — A fired Citronelle police officer has been charged in federal court with beating an inmate at the city jail.

Jason Scott Meade, 43, of Semmes, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to the single-count indictment charging him with deprivation of rights under color of law. A judge scheduled his trial for October.

The indictment alleges that Meade struck an inmate in the groin with a baton on Oct. 8, 2019. Authorities allege that Bryant King, referred to in the indictment by the initials B.K., suffered an injury.

The Citronelle Police Department fired Meade within a few weeks of the alleged incident, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency charged him with second-degree assault. He faces a disposition hearing next month in Mobile County Circuit Court.

King told FOX10 News at the time that the officer beat him in a holding cell. He said he believed the officer lashed out in frustration because the inmate kept asking for a blanket.

“I knocked on the door again and he said, ‘Stop beating on the door,’ and from there, he came in and put his hands around my neck and he choked me,” King said. “The first time, I pushed him back in self-defense.”

Meade at the time told FOX10 News that there was a scuffle but that he followed protocol. He told FOX10 News at the time that he was “emotionally distressed” after the incident and believed his name was “being dragged through the mud.”

Meade had been with the Citronelle Police Department for just four months before the incident. Prior to that, he worked at multiple departments throughout Mobile County, including Mount Vernon, Dauphin Island, Creola and Prichard.

Meade is the second Mobile County police officer this year to be charged with beating an inmate at a municipal jail. Gary Lynn Davis pleaded guilty in May to beating up an innate at the Creola jail. He faces sentencing later this month. He and the town also have been named in a federal lawsuit filed by the inmate, Joshua Brady.

If convicted, Meade faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, although, the actual punishment likely would be less under advisory guidelines.

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