Lawsuit alleges London city official ties to deadly search-warrant shooting case leaks

LONDON, Ky. (FOX 56) — A former London police officer is taking the mayor and city to court, accusing them of defamation and retaliation, to name a few, in a lawsuit filed on Thursday.

This is the third defamation lawsuit filed in 2025 that names Mayor Randall Weddle.

Jared Hale was hired at the London Police Department in December 2021. He continued his service until his March 2025 resignation. But a lawsuit filed on Thursday, Aug 14, claims that Hale had no choice.

According to court documents, Hale was dispatched to Taylor Drive on Dec. 23, 2024, for what would eventually become known as the start of the chain of events that led to the deadly shooting of Doug Harless. There, he met Judge Executive David Westerfield.

Court documents note that he leased the property to his nephew, who operated a landscaping business, and his weed eater had been stolen. Hobert Buttery has since been convicted of the theft.

The leaked 911 call

Buttery told officers that he’d stored the weed eater at a home on Vanzant Road. Court documents obtained by FOX 56 show that Buttery’s mother’s address was registered as 515 Vanzant Road. But when officers, including Hale, arrived, the home was vacant. Buttery would later be arrested in Casey County, and a search warrant was issued for the stolen lawn equipment.

“It is believed that the search warrant was for 489 Vanzant, yet the officers went to 511 and shot Doug Harless,” Brandon Voelker, Hale’s attorney, wrote.

Hale reportedly was not present when the warrant was executed, per court documents. The following day, Westerfield called 911 dispatch to request an update on the investigation. This call would eventually be leaked to a YouTube page.

Between December 23 and January 7, the lawsuit claims that Hale’s presence at 515 Vanzant Road was repeatedly questioned “as if he was somehow to blame for the Doug Harless shooting.”

On Jan. 8, an email would be sent to Weddle and City Attorney Larry Bryson containing a recording of Hale’s call with Westerfield. The lawsuit states that this was contrary to dispatch guidelines, so a secondary request was issued the following day, stating the request was for administrative review.

“The recording was not obtained through proper channels, nor under 911 center policies/procedures, and then was leaked to a YouTube channel, ‘Laurel County News +,’” Voelker said.

This is the same account Weddle used to livestream a subsequent press conference that became the subject of two defamation lawsuits.

“Mayor Weddle and Bryson orchestrated a public feeding frenzy against the plaintiff [Hale]. The audio was viewed and shared on social media thousands of times, with thousands of comments,” Voelker wrote. “In addition to social media posts, because of the unlawful disclosure of the audio, Plaintiff received direct threats. ‘Fu$k you and your family bit%h.'”

Not long after the video was posted, Hale was reportedly alerted that he was being placed on administrative leave because of “safety” and “threats” in the comments, not due to any fault of his own, per Voelker.

Voelker describes Hale’s March resignation as a constructive discharge, which, according to the Department of Labor, means a worker’s resignation may be found not to be voluntary because the employer has created a hostile or intolerable work environment or has applied other forms of pressure or coercion that forced the employee to resign.

Shortly after being placed on leave, Weddle allegedly called Hale to tell him not to trust anyone or say anything. The call reportedly lasted around 40 minutes, per court documents.

Attorney General upholds denial of open records request

On June 9, 2025, the Sentinel Echo submitted an open records request to obtain the names of any officer placed on administrative leave since Dec. 1, 2021. According to the lawsuit, the city denied the request since these records were part of the ongoing officer-involved shooting investigation and would negatively affect the well-being and privacy of those involved.

The newspaper appealed the decision to Attorney General Russell Coleman, and during said appeal, City Attorney Bryson allegedly contacted the Sentinel Echo to let them know Hale had been placed on leave.

The referenced administrative inquiry never occurred or was never concluded, per court documents.

Attorney General Coleman reportedly upheld the city’s denial, stating that “the city explains that the simple publication of his name by the newspaper subjects the police officer to public scrutiny, public discussion on social media, public discussion at city Council meetings, more marches and more threats of physical violence prior to the completion of the investigation,” the suit cites.

Voelker argues that Hale should have been afforded the same courtesy by city officials Weddle and Bryson.

“[Hale] became a pawn by Weddle to seek to deflect from the Harless shooting, with the very public scrutiny, discussion, physical threats, and other concerns set forth by the city in regard to other officers being connected to the Harless shooting,” Voelker wrote. “Quite simply, Weddle purposely did not make a lawful open records request, because the law did not support the release of the audio Weddle’s personal agenda desired.”

The suit specifically accuses the City of London and Mayor Weddle of defamation and false light. The City of London is independently accused of retaliation, freedom of speech/association, and sexual and religious harassment.

Voelker sent city officials a letter on Aug. 1, warning that if an amicable resolution was not reached by Aug. 6, the suit would be filed.

FOX 56 has reached out to Weddle and Bryson for comment.