At approximately 12:15am on Sunday morning, Officer Todd Mattingly was dispatched to Haynie’s Corner for a complaint of loud music coming from the Sculpt EVV live concert. Officer Mattingly arrived and spoke to Robert Evidon, who was working the soundboard, about the noise. Officer Mattingly asked Evidon if he could turn the volume down because of the neighbors complaining. Evidon told Officer Mattingly that the band was playing one last song and that the concert would be over after that. Officer Mattingly returned to his patrol car and allowed the band to continue, even though the event permit expired at midnight.
While waiting in his car for the music to end, dispatch told Officer Mattingly that another caller was very irate that the music was still going on. Officer Mattingly walked up to Evidon and second time and told him about the latest 911 call about the noise and asked again for him to turn down the volume.
This time, Evidon was told that if he did not turn down the volume, he could be cited under the disorderly conduct law. Evidon, who by his own admission had been awake for two straight days and under the influence of alcohol, told Officer Mattingly “You need to chill the Fuck Outâ€. Officer Mattingly again told Evidon he would be issued a citation if he did not turn down the music. Evidon replied “Then write me the fucking ticket and go the fuck somewhere elseâ€.
Due to Evidon being intoxicated and disorderly, Officer Mattingly told him he was under arrest. He told him to turn around and put his hands behind his back. Evidon did not comply with Mattingly’ instructions. He told Officer Mattingly to “chill the fuck out†and continued to ignore the instruction to turn around and put his hands behind his back. When Officer Mattingly grabbed Evidon’s arm to gain compliance, Evidon told him to “get the fuck off himâ€. Evidon then physically resisted arrest and tried to pull away from Mattingly. Mattingly first tried to gain compliance while standing up. When Evidon continued to resist, Officer Mattingly used an arm bar take down to get Evidon to the ground. Once on the ground, Evidon continued to resist arrest. Officer Mattingly used his body weight to control Evidon’s movement. After a brief struggle on the ground, Officer Mattingly was able to gain control of Evidon and get him in handcuffs.
At no time, did Officer Mattingly strike Evidon with an impact weapon, his fist, his hands, his knees, his feet, or any other object. In his Facebook post, Evidon claims officer Mattingly punched him in the face legs and back. Evidon claimed Officer Mattingly punched him in the head 30 times and continually banged his head into the pavement. Evidon claims the arrest left him with extensive head and shoulder injuries.
Evidon was taken to the hospital at his request to be examined. He was treated for a small abrasion on his shoulder that would be consistent with a person resisting arrest on a paved surface while not wearing a shirt. He was released and taken to jail.
While being booked into the jail, he had his picture taken as part of the process. Those pictures show him from the front and the side. There are not any marks, bruises, abrasions, or other injuries consistent with his claims of being punched in the face, or being punched 30 times in the head or having his head continually banged against the pavement.
Evidon also claims that Officer Mattingly and his brother, who was riding with him, took pictures of him while he was handcuffed to the hospital bed. Officer Mattingly and his brother both deny taking any pictures and have asked that any devices they had with them in the hospital be put through a forensic examination to prove that the claim is false.
Evidon has asked for anyone with video or pictures of his arrest to make those images available. We join him in his request. We spoke to a witness to the arrest minutes after it happened. That witness showed the on-duty supervisor the pictures. The pictures showed Officer Mattingly on the ground trying to gain compliance from Evidon. It does not show any of the things that Evidon claims to have happened.
We have not found anything in our investigation that supports Evidon’s claims. On the contrary, we believe the facts available at this time support the information listed Officer Mattingly’s sworn Affidavit of Probable cause and his Use of Force report.
