ROCKINGHAM — A father and son, both arrested at Richmond Senior High School Friday night, are out on bond awaiting trial next month.
The father, 43-year-old Stephen Sings Sr., of Charlotte, was live streaming to Facebook when he was handcuffed and tazed after asking a Richmond County Sheriff’s deputy why his son was arrested.
According to court documents, the son, 23-year-old Stephen Kernal Sings, also of Charlotte, caused a “public disturbance” by using “abusive language” at Raider Stadium, telling school employees, “You are a white racist b—h. F— you.”
However, documents don’t detail what led up to that.
He was arrested and charged with a single misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct and taken to the Richmond County Jail, where he was held under a $500 secured bond.
It was sometime after that arrest when the elder Stephen Sings began streaming, and walking to find the arresting deputy, Roy D. Allen.
As reported earlier, the video shows the father asking Allen, “Can you explain to me why you locked my son up, what did he do wrong?”
“I don’t have anything to say to you,” the deputy replied.
“Why you don’t?” Sings asks. “This is your duty to talk to me.”
As seen in the video, Allen then hands his water bottle to another deputy and tells Sings to put his hands behind his back.
“Man, I ain’t got to put nothin’ behind my back,” Sings said. “What you mean? … I ain’t did nothing wrong.”
It was then that a scuffle with several deputies — William Ray, Nicholas Pope, M. Burns and Detective James Hamby — began, as Sings was told several times to put his hands behind his back, court records show.
According to a magistrate’s order, Sings held up his fists to fight and engaged in a fight, saying, “F— y’all, y’all not arresting me.”
During the arrest, Sings was tazed several times, the crackle of the stun gun audible on the video.
Court documents allege Sings was kicking and punching all five officers. Two of them were reportedly injured: Burns, who is identified as both a deputy and Richmond County Schools Special Police officer, had cuts and bruising to his elbow; Hamby had cuts and bruising to his hands and knees. Hamby’s uniform pants and shoes were also reportedly damaged.
There were no documents detailing any injuries the defendant may have sustained.
The father was arrested and jailed over the weekend under a $150,000 secured bond.
The son was released on bail Saturday afternoon and ordered to stay off school property, records show.
The elder Sings is facing two felony counts of assault with physical injury on a law enforcement, probation or parole officer; five misdemeanor counts of resisting a public officer; three counts of assault on a government official or employee; and one count each of disorderly conduct and injury to personal property.
His first court appearance was Monday morning when his bond was reduced to $15,000 unsecured.
Some of Sings’ prior convictions were noted on his court paperwork.
Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show he spent 10 years behind bars following a 2005 conviction of manslaughter.
His first conviction was on a misdemeanor simple assault charge in 1993, records show.
In January of 1999, Sings was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and discharging a firearm into an occupied property and the following May he was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon.
In 2002, records show Sings was convicted of trafficking a Schedule II controlled substance and possession with intent to sell a Schedule II controlled substance.
Both father and son are scheduled to appear in court Jan. 2, 2020.
Sheriff James Clemmons said earlier Monday that the case was still under investigation.
“We will let the facts lead us where they lead,” he said.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
