JACKSON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) – An Eastern Kentucky couple is suing three state police troopers after the couple’s attorney said they harassed and intimidated them.
According to the suit, the troopers showed up at the couple’s Jackson County home after the man posted on Facebook that he was unhappy after a recent traffic stop.
According to a federal lawsuit, David Allen Gabbard was pulled over by a trooper near his Jackson County home back in September of 2017. He let the trooper search his car and was eventually allowed to leave.
In the aftermath, Gabbard sounded off about the incident in this Facebook post saying he was pulled over for no reason.
Gabbard’s attorney James O’Toole says the trooper who pulled him over, Scott Townsley, and two other troopers Joshua Roaden and Brandon Scalf, showed up at Gabbard’s home the next day.
Gabbard’s fiancée Diana Muncy tried to record the confrontation, but she says that one of the troopers stole her phone.
“It’s at that point he starts yelling and screaming about the Facebook post. That he smacks my client in the head, shoves him, and kicks his dog,” O’Toole told LEX 18.
O’Toole says Townsley then tried to get Gabbard to fight him, even taking off his badge and belt, but Gabbard refused.
“Thankfully one of the troopers saw the cameras on the corners of the house and they pulled Mr. Townsley back. They picked up his stuff, and they left,” says O’Toole.
Muncy called 911 twice to report the incident and his attorney says no one ever responded.
The 911 transcript shows that the dispatcher didn’t send help because they were told a supervisor of State Police was taking care of it. O’Toole says police told him the incident was handled internally.
He says that’s not good enough.
“We want to hold these guys accountable. Taking someone’s security in their home, taking someone’s freedom of speech all these things are very wrong and they need to be held accountable for those things,” O’Toole told LEX 18.
