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Family of arrested woman who died after deputy drove into river files $10 million wrongful death lawsuit

Tabitha Smith was found dead in the backseat of a cruiser after he drove into the Tennessee River. The deputy, Robert Leonard, also died.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — In February, a woman was found dead after a Meigs County deputy arrested her and drove into the Tennessee River. The deputy, Robert Leonard, was also found dead.

On March 4, Smith's family members filed a federal, wrongful death lawsuit in federal court against the Meigs County government. It said Smith had one adult child and also left behind three minors. 

The lawsuit said Leonard was called to a disturbance on a Highway 60 bridge that spans the Tennessee River near the Birchwood community on the evening of Feb. 14. It said after around three minutes, he took Smith into custody and cuffed her hands behind her back before sitting her in the back seat of his patrol car. It said he then drove off towards the Meigs County Jail.

"At some point between the arrest and the incident at issue, Leonard sent a text message to his wife via a cell phone," the lawsuit said. "Some days later, authorities found the patrol car, upside down, at the bottom of the Tennessee River."

It said Smith's body was found handcuffed still sitting in the back of the patrol car. Leonard's body was outside the patrol car, but still in the Tennessee River.

"Based upon information and belief, Leonard was not properly trained by the County to know his assigned area of patrol and know the nature of the incident location," the lawsuit said. "The location of the incident has a history of other people driving into the Tennessee River."

It also alleged he was not properly "trained or supervised" by the county to not use his cell phone while transporting someone who was arrested.

The lawsuit argues Meigs County deprived Smith of her 14th Amendment rights, saying once Smith was arrested she was completely reliant on Leonard and the county to make sure she wasn't injured or killed.

"The failures and deprivations here inflicted unimaginable terror upon the Plaintiff in that she knew what she was about the suffer, and the same failures and deprivations were the direct and proximate cause of her death," the lawsuit said.

It also argues the county and Leonard were negligent in preventing Smith's death, alleging that Lenoard ignored Smith as she tried to warn him that he was driving toward the river.

The lawsuit asks for $10 million in damages.

District Attorney General Russell Johnson said his office working with THP CIRT to find out the factors that may have played a role in the events leading to Smith's and Leonard's deaths. He said the office is waiting for autopsy results and is looking at weather conditions that night — especially looking at the presence of heavy fog.

He said they are also working to determine the role that poor cell phone service may have played, and if Leonard was using his cell phone for navigation. He also said his office pulled and provided to THP 911 calls and dispatch calls, including Leonard's responses to dispatch. He also said the office is waiting for modules from the patrol car's airbag, its ECM, and Leonard's cell phone to completely dry out to see if data can be taken from them. 

Johnson said he has no comment on pending federal civil litigation.

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