OK, there were a lot of questions following yesterday’s story on a former Alamance County jailer’s lawsuit claiming Sheriff Terry Johnson tracked him down in the Guilford County jail and punched him in the face. Johnson —through spokesman Randy Jones —- has responded to the lawsuit and—- guess what —more questions remain.
Johnson maintains he tracked down Barry Thomas Owen—who was being held in the Guilford County jail on charges of charges of breaking and entering a motor vehicle and impersonating a law enforcement officer so he could fire him. But that’s where the contact ended, Johnson maintains.
The Guilford jail has cameras operating throughout, but —get this—-Sheriff B.J. Barnes said it just so happens the digital video recording system wasn’t working on the night in question. Barnes, maintains there were witnesses to Johnson’s confrontation with Owen, but does not elaborate.
Also interesting are charges pending in Alamance County against Owen, which include possession of weapons of mass destruction. The Burlington Times-News cites the arrest warrant stating that deputies found “a 12 gauge shotgun with a 12-inch barrel.” I don’t claim to know guns, but some say a sawed-off shotgun is no more a weapon of mass destruction than any other shotgun.
As you can probably imagine, both Johnson and Barnes claim the lawsuit —filed two years after the incident and right before the election —- is politically motivated. That may be true —–there are people in Alamance County who Johnson out of office bad because they believe he is mistreating illegal immigrants. But that still doesn’t answer the many questions surrounding this incident.
