First, Tom Garro was beaten. Then he was handcuffed so tightly that his wrists bled. Now, the deaf senior citizen has been officially charged with a crime stemming from his violent arrest at the hands of a Pinal County Sheriff’s deputy in January.
On May 25, a month after a Phoenix New Times report on the encounter, the Pinal County Attorney’s Office filed charges in Pinal County Pioneer Justice Court against Thomas Garro, the 79-year-old deaf Lyft driver who was pulled over and roughed up by Pinal County Sheriff’s deputy Aaron McRae on Jan. 9 in San Tan Valley. New Times has also reported on the 911 call from Garro’s passenger, who told New Times she was worried McRae would kill her.
Garro, who has been deaf all his life, was taken to the hospital and released without charges in the immediate aftermath of the arrest. He is considering suing the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office and filed a $1.5 million notice of claim with the county on June 26. He now faces charges of passive resisting arrest and failure to comply with a police officer…