A Northampton County truck driver is taking his courthouse visit to a whole new arena: civil court. Don D. Long II has filed a $20 million lawsuit after his attorneys released surveillance footage they say shows a sheriff’s deputy pepper-spraying him and then striking him inside the county courthouse. The video, pushed into the public eye in early June, triggered internal action at the sheriff’s office and fresh questions about how security is handled in the building. Long says the encounter left him with lasting eye injuries that now threaten his livelihood as a commercial driver.
What the footage shows
Surveillance clips provided to reporters show Long repeatedly wiping at his eyes after what appears to be a blast of pepper spray, then walking down a hallway with a uniformed deputy close behind, according to WRAL. In the footage, the deputy appears to take the first swing before the two briefly trade blows. The video, supplied by Long’s legal team, cuts among several cameras and later shows him handcuffed and visibly agitated in a holding cell as he tries to wash his eyes.
Lawsuit alleges close-range spraying and lasting harm
Long’s attorneys have filed a notice seeking $20 million, alleging that the deputy sprayed oleoresin capsicum at close range and struck Long as he tried to re-enter a courtroom. The filing says the blast caused “permanent damage” to Long’s vision. That basic timeline - a January courthouse encounter followed months later by the public release of video evidence in early June - was laid out by Atlanta Black Star.
Sheriff’s office response
Northampton County Sheriff Jack Smith told reporters that the deputy was suspended without pay after supervisors and the sheriff reviewed the video, and that the officer left the department before an internal investigation could be finished, according to WRAL. Long’s attorneys tell a different story, saying the deputy was fired after the incident, an account that surfaced in local coverage after the footage went public. Charlotte Alerts News summarized the lawyers’ version of events once the video began circulating.
Legal claims and what’s at stake
The notice of claim seeks $15 million for alleged excessive use of force and $5 million for assault and battery, and it names Deputy Gregory Colson, Sheriff Jack Smith and the sheriff’s office surety company as defendants, as reported by Front Page Detectives. Coverage of the filing also notes that court records show Long was not charged in connection with the courthouse altercation, although he does face unrelated misdemeanor and DWI counts in other matters.
Next steps and context
Long’s legal team says it plans to press the civil claim and that the newly released video will be front-and-center if the suit moves forward. The county has not yet said whether the complaint could prompt additional state or federal action, according to the reporting. The case lands in the middle of a continuing national debate over how far courthouse security officers can go and how incidents that start inside courtrooms should be handled. Alongside the video’s release, Atlanta Black Star has detailed the legal team’s public statements and the broader community response.
