Happy Birthday Matt! I wish you could enjoy it with your family instead of living in a hospital bed.

I was told the FB link below doesn’t work, she might be set to private, but here is her account.

Update 5-21-2024 to 6-17-2024

I want to share a personal story of what happened to Matt Stoddard. By gathering information and doing our own investigation into what really happened to Matt while in custody of the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Dept. Please share our message, donate to MattStoddardFund.org, email [email protected], call 615-450-6601. I tell my son's story in the hopes that it can prevent another tragedy from occurring to someones loved one; to hold the Sullivan County Sheriff Office accountable; to hold the Ballad Health Bristol Regional Medical Center accountable; to make the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) be transparent in their investigation in this matter and take action; most importantly to call attention to the Mental Health crisis in this country.

My son, Matt Stoddard, experienced a mental health crisis on Tuesday, 5/21/24 in Sullivan County TN while en-route to Ohio with his wife, three young children and their family dog. According to his wife who is an eye witness to this, they were traveling on the Interstate and had gotten off to take back roads, as Matt felt the signs were turned around on the Interstate and they were not safe, that someone was going to harm them. They ended up in the countryside. The local Sullivan County Sheriff Office in Blountville TN responded to the 911 call for assistance. Three sheriff deputies responded to the scene. After speaking with his wife, the three responding sheriff deputies placed Matt handcuffed in the backseat of their police car. His wife explained to them that Matt was not thinking clearly or talking right and was having a mental breakdown. One of the Sheriff deputies told his wife he was on Crystal Meth and Heroin. Meanwhile she's pleading with the sheriff deputies that he needs medical help not to be arrested. At this point Matt is screaming and pleading from the back seat of the police car window. One of the sheriff deputies goes out to the police car to check on Matt. While another sheriff deputy tells his wife that he is a piece of shit, Matt was a drug addict and they can arrest her too and take her children away and she'll never see them again. As they were leaving with Matt, the sheriff deputies take his wife's and children's information but they didn’t ask for his information. His wallet was in the vehicle.The sheriff deputies do not ask for Matt's information or find it necessary to tell his wife where they are taking him or what they are charging him with. She doesn't even understand why an ambulance was not called for her husband to be transported to a hospital so he could receive medical attention. The sheriff deputies are vague and give no information to where he is being taken, and despite her requests, they tell her she can't follow them.Here is my son's wife who doesn't know where she is with her three small children and the family dog. She was frantic to know where the sheriff deputies were taking her husband, my son. She doesn't have a cell phone with her. The sheriff deputies finally agreed to let her "follow them" to the main road, but not to where they were going to take her husband. Imagine her horror of not knowing where she is, with her children and law enforcement who are being demeaning, dismissive and threatening to her, like she's a criminal. She doesn't know what is going on inside the sheriff vehicle with Matt and before she knows it, they have lost her. She doesn't know where she is and continues to drive around until she comes to a main road, a store to buy a cell phone and a hotel too. After calling around for hours, she finally gets ahold of the local sheriff deputy who tells her Matt will go in front of a judge in the morning Wednesday 5/22/24 and can post bail. When asked what he was charged with, she did not receive a response. She still in the dark of why her husband was taken into police custody and not transported to a hospital for medical treatment. She leaves her contact information with the sheriff deputy. Not knowing what to expect, she calls a friend to come and get their children and family dog so she can focus her attention on taking care of Matt. At approximately 1:30 A.M. Wednesday morning 5/22/24 she gets a phone call from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) informing her that "something happened" to Matt and he is going to be airlifted to Vanderbilt hospital in Nashville or another hospital, but he has to be stabilized first.The TBI tells her to get to Bristol Regional Medical Center ASAP. Upon arrival she is allowed minimal time to see him and her visit is cut short as she’s been exposed to pepper spray that is covered all over his face and body, while he lays unconscious. My husband and I are four hours away and we rush out of our home, with just the clothes on our backs and drive 4 hours to Bristol Regional Medical Center in Bristol TN.

Once at the hospital his wife is not given any additional information on Matt's condition. We could get no information from anyone. For three days, we did not know my son's condition, and we were not allowed to see him. No one would give us any INFORMATION, no matter how many times we asked sherriff deputies or hospital staff. We waited for 3 days in that hospital for any information or see him. He was being guarded by 4 Sullivan County Sheriff Deputies. We walked the halls of the hospital trying to find someone who would talk and tell us what was going on.

We did not get to see him for three days, finally on Friday 5/24/24, I saw him for the first time. Words can not describe the horror of what I saw. My son was on life support, unconscious, beaten black and blue with bruises and cuts all over his body, He was handcuffed to the hospital bed by his hands and ankles. There were four (4) sheriff deputies guarding him. He had tubes coming out of him. His face was badly beaten. His wrists and ankles had deep bloody cuts from the handcuffs. WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SON WHILE HE WAS IN POLICE CUSTODY????? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN??? My son who is married for 22 years and has a loving wife and three children, a long and successful career as Operations Manager at Lee Company. We then, over days took our own pictures. We have over twenty pictures of his wounds. No one at Bristol Regional Medical Center or the Sullivan County Sheriff Department or the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) would tell us what happened.

Bits and pieces of information have come to us, Matt was taken to the Sullivan County Jail in Blountvlle TN. Something happened to him there. Did he have a breakdown in the parking lot? Did he make it into the building? Did a struggle ensue? Matt came to the hospital terribly beat up. When his wife last saw him in that sheriff deputie's police car, he was not beat up or injured. Upon his arrival at the hospital on 5/22/24, we were told the ED PACS X-Ray machine was not working, so xrays could not be taken, nor did their admissions camera work, so no pictures could be taken to document his injuries. This is an emergency department which is located in a large hospital serving the Tri-State area in TN/VA. Eventually, two Sullivan Couty Sheriff deputies explain to his wife that they were sittingwith him and he was talking fine. He spoke with a medical doctor and was evaluated. He was going to be monitored overnight in the Trauma Department and released in the morning. For NO REASON, he was moved to a hospital room on the Medical/Surgical 4th Floor. From what we have been able to piece together from talking to various medical staff and sheriff deputies, It was here that the horrific incident occurred. As if it wasn't bad enough he got severely beaten at the jail.

At approximately 7:55pm EST Wednesday, 5/22/24, while Matt was alone in this 4th floor hospital room with a Sullivan County Sheriff's deputy and 2 Bristol Regional Medical Center security guards, The sheriff deputies allege that Matt went for one of their guns ( a 9mm Glock) which was holstered and a shot went off), which I am told is near impossible to do as the trigger is covered by the holster by police experts. The gun was not released from the holster. One of the guards even showed me what he would do if he had to use his gun. He would unsnap the gun out of the holster. Then reach for the safety latch, pull back and over, then pull the trigger. The gun did not leave the holster according to the sheriff's office and the bullet went into the floor. Matt’s fingers could not fit into the holster to pull the safety pin. My son was not a violent person at all.

From there my son was pepper sprayed/maced right in the face at close range and left in the room for over 20 minutes and he went into cardiac arrest and his brain deprived of oxygen. Now we are told his brain is not responsive. A code blue was called and a Medical Emergency Team arrived within 3 minutes and went into the room and started to treat Matt. He could not handle the pepper spray and he took Matt by his ankles and pulled him out of the room and continued CPR. This is all in the medical records and told to us by the nurses. For about 5 days, Matt laid in ICU with pepper spray still all over his face, the doctors, the nurses and sheriffs refused to wash it off. We tried to wash his face ourselves. Finally, we begged the doctor if the nurses could bathe his face to get the spray off his face. I know in my heart that my son is fighting for his life. He is still with us. The hospital has been pressuring us to take him off of life support. We believe with all of our hearts that his brain will heal and he will come back to us. We are not giving up on my son. We have seen signs he is still with us. What happened to my son is a travesty of the criminal justice system and the medical community. Mental illness is not a crime. It is an illness.

The Sullivan County Sheriff Office deputies initially took him into custody for Disorderly Conduct, a mere violation in most states in the United States, certainly not a misdemeanor or felony charge. He should of been taken to a hospital for medical help. It was clear to these responding sheriff deputies he has having a mental breakdown. How does someone go from being charged with Disorderly Conduct to Attempted Murder of a police officer, because that is what the Sullivan County Sheriff's department were going to charge my son with. So many lies told by law enforcement and medical staff. So many mistakes made, reports missing, video missing, evidence covered up or destroyed by many parties involved.

It's difficult to say where the truth lies but we know in our hearts the truth will come out and those responsible in my son's mistreatment will be held accountable. We are not going away. Conscionable people have come forward with their accounts of what transpired that night. My son is now free from the physical bounds of handcuffs and being guarded by four sheriff deputies. He is however ot free from the pain, suffering and harm they caused him. My research has found many reports of police brutality, misconduct and cover up by the Sullivan County Sheriff Office going back years.

WE WILL GET TO THE TRUTH AND THOSE RESPONSIBLE WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. We have received his medical reports: Doctors were told by arresting sheriffs that Matt was found squatting at a house, he was unemployed and was on meth and heroin. It also stated that his wife was arrested. These were all lies, given to the doctors when he arrived at the hospital. His wife was not arrested. Blood work was done on him at the hospital. None of these drugs were in his system. Matt was not unemployed. He was working for a company for the last 22 years and he was highly respected and well liked at his job. They have a beautiful home, three beautiful kids, and a close knit family life. How does that type of man end up beaten, in critical condition, on life support, while in police custody and in a major hospital. The sheriffs department is known for its brutality and unjust charges. Look them up and read the stories. Matt had a breakdown, which was also stated by a doctor that he had a psychotic breakdown and he felt that somebody was trying to harm him and his family, and to be attacked by police officers and not being in his right mind. I can’t imagine what he went through being in their custody.

It’s so hard to read his medical records and to be a part of this as a Mother, Father, brother, wife and children. We have been through a nightmare. The horror he must’ve face fighting for his life but he’s made it this far. We literally were scared that something would happen to him in the hospital. That was why we were asking for prayers so we could move him as soon as possible. If they were capable of doing this to him we didn’t know how far they would go. So please keep Matt in your prayers and us also, God will lead us in the right direction to get justice for Matt and those that have suffered in these peoples hands. Thank you all. Stoddard Family

http://MattStoddardFund.org

Letter from his mother detailing the incident - https://www.facebook.com/joellenbobbie.blomestoddard?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Ballad Health, a state run monopoly killing Americans - https://www.reddit.com/r/tricities/comments/1dqy4h9/ballad_health_is_a_failing_state_run_monopoly/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Sullivan County Sheriff's Office Has Rampant Police Brutality and Mismanagement - https://www.reddit.com/r/policebrutality/comments/1dr0jtx/police_brutality_cardiac_arrest_i_cant_breathe/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button