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Commissioner Henri Brooks surrenders at Jail East, booked on simple assault
MEMPHIS, TN -(WMC) – Shelby County Commissioner Henri Brooks surrendered at Jail East after an assault warrant was issued.
The 65-year-old commissioner and juvenile court clerk candidate was booked on a single simple assault charge Thursday.
According to an incident report, a woman was trying to pull into a parking space in the parking lot at Methodist University Hospital, 1265 Union Avenue, on Tuesday afternoon. Before she pulled into the space, police say Brooks "whipped her vehicle around hers and into the parking space." The police report says the victim swerved to avoided the collision, ran over a curb, and hit a tree with her back bumper.
Brooks got out of her vehicle, acted irate, yelled racial slurs, and got in her face, according to the incident report. The woman told police she tried to take a picture of the suspect, but the suspect snatched her cell phone out of her hand and then dumped a bottle of water on her.
Three independent witnesses on scene told police Brooks was yelling racial slurs at the woman, who is a Methodist Le Bonheur associate, and dumped water on her.
One witness happened to roll on part of the aftermath of the incident with a cell phone.
It recorded a voice of the associate saying, "Her tag says house judiciary. And then I wondered if she's the ... I can't think of her name ... that Janet lady or whoever she is."
Another voiced clarified it was not someone named Janet.
"And then she got onto me she goes, do you think you're white or something," said the associate. "And my jaw just dropped because I'm mixed. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Why are you turning this into a racial issue?"
Brooks told investigators the other woman got in her face, spit at her, and was yelling. Police say the woman had a small bruise on her left hand, from which the phone was snatched.