No investigation followed, Alleghany County Sheriff's deputy repeatedly punching man during arrest

A Covington man filed a lawsuit against a former Alleghany County Sheriff’s deputy after graphic video shows the former deputy punching the man during his arrest.

Joshua Barricks was arrested more than two years ago at the Covington Farm and Fuel store. That incident ended with Barricks being hospitalized from his injuries and former deputy James Wright being sued for $5 million.

After part one of our Target 7 investigation aired on Monday, many viewers have reached out wondering why this is a civil case and not a criminal one.

A criminal case can only happen if there is an investigation from the police department, and the Commonwealth’s Attorney can then place charges. Barricks’ representing attorney explained there was never an investigation into the use of force incident and a civil lawsuit is one of their limited options.

“It would have been far better had the Commonwealth’s Attorney and the local police been involved from the beginning and investigated this, and then we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Scott Austin said.

Surveillance video shows Wright punching Barricks 12 times, after Barricks got on his knees and put his hands above his head. Barricks was running away from Wright after the former deputy pulled him over for skateboarding on the road.

Wright’s response to the lawsuit stated he acted within law enforcement policy.

“Well, if that’s true, we need to change the police policy because his behavior was outrageous,” Austin said. “But we don’t think it was in keeping with police policy.”

Wright also stated in his lawsuit response, any claims from Barricks “are barred under qualified immunity”.

The Alleghany County Sheriff’s office told Target 7 no official investigation took place other than reviewing the video, but it’s unclear why the department didn’t investigate.

Seven months after the March incident took place, Wright was hired as a Virginia State Police (VSP) trooper.

“In our opinion, this officer should not be involved in law enforcement,” Austin said.

VSP did a standard review of the hiring process once they were made aware of the lawsuit nearly a year after he was hired. Wright is still employed as a VSP trooper.

While Barricks is serving a sentence for drug related charges, his attorney explained the goal with the civil lawsuit case is accountability.

“When he’s released, he’s going to go back in that community,” Austin said. “He wants a safe community for the citizenry, and that necessarily means you have to have accountability for the police.”

Wright’s attorneys, the Alleghany County Sheriff’s Office and VSP all declined to comment on the pending litigation.

The lawsuit is expected to go to trial in October.