Kyle Chrisley has filed a $1.7 million lawsuit against Rutherford County in Tennessee, as well as two sheriff’s deputies, over a September 2024 aggravated assault arrest.
In documents obtained by local outlet WSMV on Tuesday, August 19, Kyle, 33, and his wife Ashleigh allege that he was falsely arrested at his home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, last year following an altercation with a “disgruntled mechanic,” who they said was “angry over a payment dispute, showed up uninvited, kicked at their doors, threatened violence, and used his car as a weapon by ramming their SUV and nearly running Kyle over in front of multiple neighbors.”
Kyle and Ashleigh claim that instead of arresting “the man who caused the chaos,” Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office deputies instead arrested Kyle, ignoring “clear evidence that he was the victim, not the aggressor.”
The filing further alleges that deputies “disregarded eyewitnesses, overlooked available video footage and ignored Tennessee’s self-defense law” when making the arrest.
The doc claims Ashleigh was “threatened with arrest and ordered to stop recording” after she began filming the arrest on her cell phone “to document the officers’ conduct.”
“Kyle and Ashleigh Chrisley bring this lawsuit because no family should face criminal charges or threats of arrest for defending themselves at home or for exercising their constitutional rights,” the lawsuit reads. “This is a case about false arrest, excessive force, and retaliation for trying to hold police officers accountable.”
The couple claim that “one or more officers” recognized Kyle as “a member of the Chrisley family, who are widely known from the reality television series Chrisley Knows Best and associated public controversies,” and that the officers “appeared eager to arrest [Kyle], treating the encounter as an opportunity to make headlines by arresting a well-known figure.”
They claim the “arrest was motivated in part by animus toward Plaintiff Kyle Chrisley based on his notoriety, past public controversies, or perceived privilege, rather than on the facts or law surrounding the September 9, 2024, incident.”
Kyle’s lawyer, Wesley Clark of Brazil Clark, PLLC, said in a statement to People on Tuesday: “Our hopes for this lawsuit are accountability and change because no family should have to endure what the Chrisley family endured in this terrifying scenario.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Kyle’s lawyer and the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
Kyle’s lawsuit comes just three months after his dad, Todd, and stepmom Julie were pardoned by President Donald Trump in May following their 2022 conviction on charges including bank fraud and tax evasion. (Todd shares Kyle and daughter Lindsie, 35, with ex-wife Teresa Terry. He also has three children — Savannah, 28, Chase, 29, and Grayson, 19 — with Julie. Todd and Julie are also the adoptive parents of Kyle’s daughter, Chloe, 12.)
At the time, Kyle said he was “ecstatic” about the news, adding, “Truly. I just found out a little bit ago and I still just can’t believe it.”