SHARP COUNTY, Ark. – A Cherokee Village police officer has been arrested after being accused in the 2016 beating of a suspect.

A Sharp County judge found probable cause to charge Josh Trivitt, 44, with second-degree battery. He was arrested by the Arkansas State Police.  

Following Trivitt’s arrest, attorneys for Randall Lee Veazie, whom they represent in a federal civil rights lawsuit that was filed in the case, issued this statement:
“Officer Trivett’s arrest today is long past due. We are pleased that the authorities have investigated this matter and that the wheels of justice are finally beginning to turn. It does not, however, abrogate our disbelief that it has taken nearly two (2) years for the law to catch up with Officer Trivett. It is our hope that authorities will provide our client with victim services, just as they would any other individual in his position,” stated Jim Harris and Zach Morrison, Law Offices of Harris & Morrison of Blytheville.

Trivitt was already a defendant in a civil right suit over the incident.