KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. (CNN Newsource/WKRC) — A Tennessee grandmother is suing Knox County, its sheriff and four deputies after she says her arrest was staged as part of a reality TV show, per CNN.
Donna Dillon says, in June 2025, the Knox County Sheriff’s arrested her on a three-year-old misdemeanor assault charge that has since been dropped. The dramatic arrest was filmed for the REELZ channel show “On Patrol: Live.”
Dillon says she was handcuffed in front of her 17-year-old son, and the arresting deputies used excessive force and left her in a police vehicle for hours. The position reportedly caused pain and suffering to a shoulder she had just had surgery on.
Knox County, the sheriff and the deputies have until early September to respond to the lawsuit. “On Patrol: Live” did not comment on the lawsuit, but says Dillon’s arrest has not aired and there are no plans to air it.
That’s a funny way to say “exploit the poor and disadvantaged as propaganda for a powerful authoritarian right-wing paramilitary.” I’m sure this lady was so dangerous that they just had to keep her cuffed in a car for four hours fresh out of shoulder replacement surgery.
For all the piggies knew, they could have replaced her armpit with a vice, after all.