CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Deputies arrested a Chattanooga man for repeatedly calling and texting 911.
An arrest report says at the time, "deputies did not observe any injuries or any emergency going on with him."
But no more than two days after his arrest, 23-year-old Christopher Ayala landed in intensive care.
His family says doctors told them Ayala is now considered brain dead.
Edwin Ayala says he's living in a state of confusion over what happened to his 23 year-old-son.
"He had smoked a little bit of weed. And so he dialed 911911 came, he got arrested for dialing 911," Edwin says.WTVC obtained Ayala's arrest report on Tuesday.
It says on April 27 a little before 6 p.m., dispatchers got four separate 911 calls from an address in Harrison, and that the caller 'was not making any sense.'
The report says a deputy met Ayala, and says Ayala "appeared to be under the influence of narcotics." The deputy also said he could smell 'a strong odor of marijuana.'
Ayala told the deputy "there was no emergency," and refused to answer questions, according to the report.
The deputy told Ayala not to call 911 unless he had an actual emergency and left the home.
Just over a half hour later, deputies started getting 'numerous' 911 texts from the same address.
The affidavit says the person texting "mentioned something about his password," but would not reply to dispatchers asking if there was an actual emergency. At one point, he did reply, saying simply, "No." Then the 911 texts resumed, the report says.
Deputies showed up at the address again and spoke to Ayala's parents.
The report says they both told him "he uses narcotics and this is an ongoing issue."
Deputies then located Ayala. The report says:
He still appeared to be under the influence of narcotics and was holding a phone in his hand. Deputies did not observe any injuries or any emergency going on with him. His mother attempted to grab the phone and he refused to give it to her.At that point, deputies arrested Ayala for improper use of 911.
One deputy then called the number that had repeatedly called 911. The report says the phone Ayala was holding in his hand rang when he called it.
The affidavit concludes:
Mr. Ayala was transported to the Hamilton County Jail for processing. There is nothing further to report at this time.On Tuesday, WTVC spoke with his attorney, former Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston, who like Ayala's parents wants an explanation for what happened.
He says Ayala was admitted to the hospital on the same day he was booked, April 28th.
Pinkston says the next day, April 29th, Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp's office dismissed the charges against Ayala "without explanation."
Pinkston says Ayala's family has continued to try to get answers from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, with little success.
"One of the times they called they were told that he was never even booked into that jail," Pinkston said. "Obviously, that's concerning. They've been given the difficult time trying to find out what happened to their son."Photos show Ayala covered in cuts and bruises.
"I want someone to take me to a room somewhere and say, 'look, man, we can review these cameras right here. And you can see literally what happened to your son here.' I will be content to know and I will be able to deal with this," Edwin says.Pinkston said of the dropped charges:
We reached out to D.A. Wamp to ask why the charges were dropped. In an email, she replied with the following:
"How can one read that letter and not think the reason for dismissal is fairly obvious?"Pinkston says he and the family have asked for the sheriff's office to preserve all evidence concerning Ayala's arrest, his detention and his hospitalization, and he has asked D.A. Wamp to name a third party to investigate what happened to Ayala.
WTVC reached out to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office for comment on this story. A response will be shared if and when one is given.
UPDATE: At Wednesday's Hamilton County Commission meeting, Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett told us his office will be releasing a statement on this story in the coming days.
WTVC also reached out to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, who said they are not currently investigating this incident.
Pinkston wrote two letters, one to Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett, and another to D.A. Wamp. Read his letter to Sheriff Garrett below:
We also reached out to the TBI who says they have not been asked to investigate.
The DA also told us there is no criminal investigation at this time.
Depend on us to keep you posted on this developing story as we learn more.
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