A former Pulaski County sheriff's deputy was cleared of criminal excessive-force accusations Thursday after testifying he did not intentionally try to injure the drunken man he was trying to arrest.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Karen Whatley acquitted Samuel Gene Brandon, 47, of misdemeanor battery after a nonjury trial over accusations he recklessly injured Patrick Wayne Bomer, 36, during a Dec. 6, 2019, arrest at the Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers restaurant in North Little Rock.

Bomer is a convicted sex-offender from Saline County who was on parole at the time and said he remembers little about the encounter. He suffered a cut to his head that required stitches. Brandon, who was fired by the sheriff, faced up to a year in jail on the charge.

The case had been referred to prosecutors for potential charges by sheriff's investigators who were reviewing Brandon's use of force to arrest Brandon. The case was before Whatley on appeal from North Little Rock District Court after Brandon had been convicted there by District Judge Paula Juels-Jones.

Questioned by his lawyer, Robert Newcomb, Brandon, who had been a deputy for almost 20 years, testified that he was trying to arrest Bomer after the younger man had suddenly and surprisingly spit in his face, which can be a felony.

"It was a total surprise," Brandon told the judge. "He had not been angry or belligerent."

Brandon said he next grabbed Bomer, whom he'd never met, to take him down, with the younger man hitting the pavement face first, a "bad bounce" that unintentionally landed Bomer on the pavement, not on the grass the man had been standing on.

"I took him down, and in so doing, unfortunately hurt the man," Brandon said, telling the judge he didn't use excessive force and was not trying to hurt Bomer.

Brandon said he'd do the same thing again if he could go back and relive the moment.

"I'd try to aim a little better," he said.

Brandon was working off-duty traffic control at the newly opened restaurant on East McCain Boulevard. He said Bomer repeatedly approached him in the car-crowded parking lot to ask him what was going on at the restaurant. Brandon said he was too busy to talk to the man so he told him to wait by the restaurant sign at the rear of the eatery until Brandon could get free.

Bomer was cordial but had been rambling about ancient aliens and UFOs, Brandon said, so he suspected the man was intoxicated. He said when he got close enough he could smell alcohol on Bomer, who later said he'd consumed a pint of pure grain alcohol. Brandon said he told Bomer he was risking arrest for public intoxication if he didn't go back where he'd come from, and that's when Bomer spit on him.

Deputy prosecutor Hannah Johnston told the judge Brandon's actions were "reckless and unjustified." No one else, including a fellow deputy, saw Bomer spit or see Brandon with spit on his face, Johnson said.

She called three witnesses who told the judge they never saw Bomer do anything to justify the rough handling he suffered.

Parker Harrellson, Sarah Hale and Daniel Burley were part of a group of around 10 Harding University students who had driven over from Searcy to eat at the new restaurant and celebrate the end of the semester. The three, testifying separately, told the judge they were sitting on the back porch of the restaurant, and that they were shocked by the sudden outburst of violence by Brandon, which appeared unprovoked.

They all described seeing Bomer, who was seated on the brick portion of a Raising Cane's sign, grabbed by Brandon around Bomer's shoulders or collar, with Brandon pushing Bomer's head back into a metal sign pole before throwing Bomer into the street, apparently knocking Bomer unconscious.

"We were all just in shock," Hale testified, describing how she saw blood by Bomer's head.

Both she and Burley described Brandon as "slamming" Bomer to the pavement.

"We heard his head making contact," Burley testified, saying he too saw blood. "It didn't seem like the man was a danger to the officer. It seemed like something wrong just happened."

Questioned by the defense, the three admitted they did not know much about police tactics and acknowledged they were 50 feet from the men, witnessing the encounter at night. Further, each said Bomer could have spit on Brandon but they had not seen it.

Johnston also introduced testimony about Brandon's interview with sheriff's investigators, noting that Brandon said he "smashed," "face-planted" and "jacked ... up" Bomer.

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