Driver awarded $25K in Chester dirt track excessive force arrest

A federal jury has awarded $25,000 to a dirt track driver who was tackled by officers after a 2009 wreck after unanimously agreeing the officers used excessive force.

Randy Smith of Fort Mill brought the lawsuit after he was arrested. The charges were later dropped. The incident, in front of thousands at a charity event in 2009, was the only arrest of Smith’s life. Another driver had spun Smith out on the track, and when he approached the other driver near the scales at the track, Smith was tackled by the Chester County deputies working off-duty security.

The officers – T.J Murphy, N.C. Murphy and Charles Grant, who no longer work at the Chester County Sheriff’s Office – claimed Smith provoked the incident by advancing on the other driver. But Smith has said since his arrest he never touched the other driver. Smith argued he was arrested and beaten in front of the crowd, then kept in handcuffs.

“I was telling the truth,” Smith said. “I know I was right and the jury agreed.”

The jury needed less than two hours late Wednesday to side with Smith for actual damages. The jury did not award any punitive damages, court documents show.

Smith is a York County Sports Hall of Fame football player who starred at Wofford College and for decades has run a body shop in Fort Mill while racing on weekends.

“My motivation wasn’t money, it was justice and making people accountable,” Smith said. “Just because they wear a badge doesn’t mean they can beat the crap out of people.”

Lawyers for the former officers could not be reached for comment.

This story was originally published April 22, 2016 at 9:16 AM with the headline "Driver awarded $25K in Chester dirt track excessive force arrest."