A man has filed a lawsuit against a North Carolina state trooper, claiming the officer punched and dragged him across a concrete surface after he experienced an epileptic seizure, which reportedly led to a car accident.

Thomas Simmons, who states he has epilepsy, is accusing Sgt. Ashley Smith of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol of discrimination based on his disability, applying excessive force contrary to the Fourth Amendment, and falsely labeling him as impaired while driving.

At age 44, on May 25, 2024, Simmons was driving on Highway 33 in Greenville as part of his job delivering goods for Walmart. The lawsuit alleges that he began having an epileptic seizure, lost awareness and control, sideswiped another vehicle, and collided with a utility pole.

A bystander called 911, and Smith arrived at the accident scene. Upon arrival, a bystander informed the officer that Simmons, the driver, “appeared to be having a seizure,” according to the lawsuit. Officers from the Greenville police department also responded to the incident.

Smith is reported to have made remarks “indicating he understood” that Simmons was experiencing a seizure, saying things like, “Notify Greenville PD, I believe somebody advised that the subject’s possibly having a seizure.” When a bystander informed Smith, “He’s seizing,” as Smith got out of his car, the trooper echoed, “He’s seizing,” according to the lawsuit.

Furthermore, according to Simmons, Smith requested the man’s hospital records the next month. In his report, Smith wrote that when he found Simmons, he “was slumped over and appeared to be suffering from what I originally thought was a seizure or medical condition based on what witnesses on scene were telling me and what I was observing from him.”

Smith approached Simmons’ car and saw him “convulsing inside his vehicle,” leading him to break the front passenger-side window and attempt to make contact with the man. “Hey brother, you alright? S—t. Hey man, be still, brother. Be still,” he reportedly said.

However, when Smith backed away — despite not noticing any drugs in the vehicle — he told onlookers, “Looks like a drug problem. Y’all step on back,” per the lawsuit, which stated Simmons was incapacitated, moaning and crying unintelligibly.

“Hey man, what’s your name, brother?” Smith reportedly asked, again attempting to communicate with Simmons. He managed to get the door open, prompting Simmons to “woozily” rise to his feet. Smith apparently did not like that.

“Don’t get out,” he allegedly said. “Hey, I’m gonna hurt you, man.” The trooper is said to have repeated this threat as Simmons “did not respond” to his commands, and after the second time, Smith “delivered a forceful, closed fist strike directly to Plaintiff’s face,” the lawsuit states.

These photos allegedly show North Carolina State Trooper Sgt. Ashley Smith hitting Thomas Simmons at the site of a crash in Greenville, North Carolina (lawsuit).

Grainy photos reportedly taken at the scene show a trooper appearing to make contact with his fist to Simmons’ face.

Simmons “slumped to the ground,” and Smith “began to drag Plaintiff’s body by his leg, across the pavement and gravel, and away from his vehicle,” the lawsuit alleges. He was then handcuffed as “it was apparent” he was “bleeding from multiple places on his body.”

Smith allegedly told Greenville police officers that Simmons was “on meth” and that he had to use force against him. “Was he combative?” one cop asked another, per the lawsuit. “Trooper punched him in the face,” was the response.

The alleged victim was brought to a nearby hospital. His car was totaled. While in a hospital room, Smith came to see Simmons “and told him he had punched him in the face,” the lawsuit claims. Simmons said he denied using any meth, reiterating that he had suffered a seizure.

Smith reportedly told the man that he would be charging him with assault on a government official, reckless driving, and resisting an officer. Then, “according to a written report Defendant prepared on June 10, 2024, he approached the medical staff and told them they were ‘requir[ed]’ by law to produce to him a copy of Plaintiff’s blood tests without a warrant,” the lawsuit claims.

Medical staffers refused, but the trooper is said to have still later “falsely” suggested to state Highway Patrol officials that “medical staff indicated Plaintiff had been impaired, although Defendant did not file charges for Driving While Impaired.”

Furthermore, according to the suit, “Plaintiff’s blood tests disproved Defendant’s suspicions.”

Simmons said he made “repeated appearances in court” over the next 11 months attempting to get the charges dismissed. Finally, a Pitt County assistant district attorney came to him with an offer: the state “would dismiss all criminal charges against Plaintiff if he would sign a waiver of all civil claims he might have against Defendant Smith,” the lawsuit states.

He refused, and when his attorney told the state he intended to take the charges to trial, the state is said to have “dismissed them unconditionally.”

But that wasn’t the end of things for Simmons, nor could he just move on so easily, as he tells it. He “continues to suffer significant physical and psychological injuries as a result of Defendant’s unreasonable and unlawful actions,” and was reportedly diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression.

Simmons is seeking damages against Smith, an order declaring that the trooper’s “seizure of and excessive force” against Simmons was unlawful, and additional unspecified relief.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol told local NBC affiliate WITN that it would not comment on the lawsuit.