A former Cocke County jailer caught on video slamming a handcuffed man to the ground in February was arrested Friday on charges of aggravated assault and official oppression, the local sheriff said.

Kelton Townsend, 29, was booked into the same jail where he once worked.

Footage from another officer's body camera shows Townsend grabbed Jerry Miller by the throat and threw him to the ground while Miller was being booked into the Cocke County jail on Feb. 21. Miller, 60, cursed at officers and told Townsend not to take his wallet but did not resist physically before the body slam, the video shows.

'Some type of loose cannon'

Miller filed a federal excessive-force lawsuit against the county in August, claiming the assault left him with eight broken ribs and a punctured lung. He said he didn't receive adequate medical treatment at the jail and didn't realize the extent of his "severe and permanent" injuries until he went to a hospital after being released the next day.

A lawyer for Cocke County initially denied Townsend used excessive force, court records show. Likewise, the jailer wrote in a report he "used the least amount of force necessary to put (Miller) on the ground."

After video surfaced from a Newport police officer's body camera, the lawyer admitted Townsend used excessive force but argued the county shouldn't be liable because the officer's actions didn't stem from any county policies or practices.

The victim's lawyers, Darren Berg and Russell Egli, filed a motion seeking to sanction the county, claiming officials denied the existence of any video until Tuesday.

"Cocke County now seeks to admit excessive force was used and to blame the overly large and quite obviously powerful Officer Townsend for going off reservation in order to argue that he is some type of loose cannon ...," the motion reads.

'You don't try to stop me'

Miller was arrested on a charge of interfering with emergency calls after a woman called 911 to report a domestic disturbance at a home in Newport. A city police officer, Joshyua Shults, spoke to the woman, who said Miller "pulled the wires out of the phone" but did not touch her, according to an arrest warrant.

As Miller was being booked into the jail, he asked why he was being arrested, said the officers couldn't take his photograph and called Townsend a "fata--" while he faced the wall, his hands cuffed behind his back.

"Shut up," the jailer responded.

"Make me," Miller said.

"I f------ will, buddy," Townsend said.

"Well, go ahead," Miller said as Townsend reached into his pocket for his wallet. "Hey, you don't get my wallet."

"Yeah, I get your wallet."

"No, you don't."

Townsend grabbed Miller around the neck and threw him to the ground, the video shows. Miller screamed in pain, and Townsend said, "You don't try to stop me from doing s---."

Video cut short?

Miller claimed in his lawsuit that the jailer "picked him up and threw him against a wall" after the body slam, but the video doesn't show that. Shults, the officer, turned off his body camera roughly 30 seconds after Miller hit the ground.

Newport Police Chief Maurice Shults, who is the officer's father, told Knox News his son did nothing wrong. He shut off his body camera and left the jail because he had already turned over the inmate, the chief said.

"(People) can think what they want because if Jesus Christ was standing beside him, there'd still be something wrong in somebody's opinion," the chief said.

Maurice Shults said the Cocke County Sheriff's Office contacted his department last week to ask about the body camera footage.

"It was produced the minute the request was made," he said.

In a statement Friday, Cocke County Sheriff Armando Fontes said he immediately launched a criminal investigation and turned the video over to the district attorney's office after he "recently received" the footage.

The sheriff didn't specify when and how Townsend left the agency.

A grand jury indicted Townsend this week, and he was arrested Friday afternoon. He was booked into the Cocke County jail, where he was being held in lieu of $50,000 bond.

Miller is seeking $5 million in damages.