Outlaws Motorcycle Club party attendee sues KCSO

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$1.1 million sought after New Year's Eve raid
By Matt Lakin

A woman who claims her only crime was attending a New Year's Eve party wants $1.1 million from the Knox County Sheriff's Office over its Dec. 31 raid on the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

Cynthia Allison filed the lawsuit April 30 in U.S. District Court. The lawsuit names Knox County, Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones and KCSO Deputy Jeremiah Johnson as defendants, together with "unknown officers."

Allison was at the club's party on Clifton Road when deputies burst through the door with concussion grenades and started kicking people to the floor, according to the lawsuit. The deputies "held their guns to individuals' heads and screamed, 'You mess with one of ours, now we're gonna mess with one of yours,' " Allison's lawyer, Michael Shipwash, wrote in a complaint.

The sheriff has said the raid came after members of the club held an undercover officer, Joseph Linger, hostage and threatened him. Members say they just confronted Linger and ordered him to give back a club vest.

KCSO officials couldn't be reached for comment on the lawsuit. The county hasn't filed a response yet.

The lawsuit claims Allison was forced to take off clothing that bore an Outlaws slogan, lie handcuffed and barefoot on the floor at gunpoint and spend nine hours restrained on a bus - even though she says she's not a member of the club. She says she suffered a tarnished reputation, retaliation on the job and "constant fear" for her safety after the raid. She also says she never got her shoes back.

A hearing on the lawsuit hasn't been set.

Matt Lakin may be reached at 865-342-6306.

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