Lawsuit Filed Against Garland County Sheriff's Office and Deputy

A Central Arkansas business has filed a lawsuit against the Garland County Sheriff's Office and one of its deputies, saying he went beyond his authority and has hurt business operations.

"You're not allowed to be here," the man, who identifies himself as Neil Parliment on the cell phone video.

"They don't have a court order to be here, I just talked to the attorney," Stacy Roberts responded.

According to the Roberts family, this is the dispute that started it all. The cell phone video on June 5, 2012, shows a U-haul truck and van in front of Tracy Roberts' home, that's Stacy Roberts' identical twin brother.

Tracy had traveled out of state on vacation with his two children, in the midst of a divorce, and asked Stacy to house sit and protect the property.

"He called me here to keep the peace," Parliment said.

"Who called you?" Stacy Roberts asked.

"Mr. McCord," Parliment responded -- identifying Tracy Roberts' father-in-law.

 "So, Mr. McCord calls you personally and you come out here and do this for free?" Roberts asked.

Shaking his head, Parliment responded, "I get paid by the county."

That's because Parliment is a Marine Patrol Officer with the Garland County Sheriff's Office. But on this day in June, he claims he got a personal call to stand guard at Roberts' home while he was out of town, so property could be removed.

"What does the Garland County Sheriff's office have to do or not have to do? " attorney J. Sky Tapp asked.

That's the question he's trying to answer by filing a lawsuit on behalf of the Tracy, Stacy, and Don Roberts along with their company. According to Tapp, Parliment operated outside his authority and violated a court order during divorce proceedings, allowing business records, passports, gear, and medical prescriptions valued at more than a thousand dollars to be taken from the home.

Some of that property still remains unaccounted for.

"They went to the house and broke in, literally broke into the house," Tapp said. "He specifically states in that video he is working for at the behest of Mr. Mccord even though he says he is on duty in Garland County. I absolutely think that's a conflict of interest."

The Garland County Sheriff's Office wouldn't discuss the lawsuit, referring us to the county attorney who has not returned our call. But spokesperson Lt. James "Corky" Martin did say it isn't uncommong for citizens to have the cell phone numbers of deputies and call them when they need help, rather than go through dispatch.

"I've been a praciticing attorney here for more than 30 years," Tapp said. "And that has never been offered to clients, for a deputy to help them move property out -- especially against a court order. They have never voluntarily done things -- they repeatedly say we don't have the time, manpower, or the interest in doing that."

In the cell phone video, Stacy Roberts raises that question.

"So, someone called you personally, and you can come out here and do whatever you want?"

Parliment appears to nod in the video, and Roberts continues, "You do what you want and you're on the clock right now with the county. That's what you're saying?"

At that point, Parliment ends the line of questioning, "I'm dong talking to you!" he shouts.

Once he returned home, Tracy Roberts did a walk through of his home with another deputy, who they say filled out a report of missing items, a damaged six-foot door, and a burnt up air conditioning unit. According to Roberts all of the doors were opened and the air conditioning had been turned down to 67 degrees, burning up the unit from overuse during the June days, while Tracy remained out of town.

Roberts claims he filed the report that day with the deputy and filed another at a later date when he realized no investigation had been started.

Lt. Martin told KARK there is no record in the Sheriff's Office system of a report about Roberts' home.

KARK also reached out to Neil Parliment and William McCord, both named as defendants in the lawsuit along with the Sheriff's Office. we weren't able to reach either of them for comment.

The lawsuit alleges more beyond the incident at Roberts' home. It also says on several occasions, Parliment filed false accusations agains the Roberts' tour boat company with the Coast Guard, harrassed employees on Lake Hamilton, interrupted tours, and generally disrupted business.

This is not driven by money. This is driven by attempting to allow them to try to continue their business without beng harrassed or intimidated by a governmental entity who is supposedly there to protect their interests not in a derogation of rights affect their interest," Tapp said.