Local & State Headlines

Sumter Grand Jury will not indict Americus police officer

• A Sumter County grand jury does not indict an Americus police officer on brutality charges.

J.D. Sumner

AMERICUS — A Sumter County Grand Jury refused to indict an Americus Police officer who was facing charges in a beating that severely injured a man last spring.

Michael Middleton, an officer with the Americus Police Department, has been the target of a criminal investigation after claims surfaced that he used excessive force while apprehending an Americus man in April.

A grand jury handed down a “no” bill this week, which means they didn’t feel there was enough evidence to indict.

Although accounts of the arrest vary, police reports show that Middleton was dispatched to Wheatley Plaza in Americus in reference to a complaint against Eddie Bridges, who witnesses say was a common fixture at businesses there.

Police Chief James Green said after the incident that while Middleton was attempting to arrest Bridges, Middleton said that Bridges threw a juice can at him and punched him.

In the struggle, Middleton reportedly slammed Bridges’ head down on the car, causing his eye to pop out of its socket, Green said.

Bridges was treated for his injuries in Albany and died in June from unrelated medical issues, according to Sumter County Coroner Greg Hancock.

Green conducted an internal investigation and turned that material over to District Attorney Cecilia Cooper, who presented it to a grand jury this week.

“As far as the criminal aspect of this investigation goes, it means it’s over,” Cooper said.

John Cole Vodicka, the director of the nonprofit watchdog group known as the Prison and Jail Project, an outspoken critic of Middleton and the APD’s handling of the case, said Tuesday that he’s not surprised at the outcome, claiming it’s just another example of how prosecutors were reluctant to fully prosecute a local police officer.

“The Prison and Jail Project is disappointed that the grand jurors chose not to indict Michael Middleton for the horrific beating he applied to Eddie Bridges last April,” Vodicka wrote in a letter to the Albany Herald. “... The Prison and Jail Project will continue to push ahead to demand that Michael Middleton be fired and that justice come to Eddie Bridges and his family.”

Vodicka has written federal authorities pleading Bridges’ case and asking that they step in and do an independent investigation.

More Headlines>>