Taylor Brown, the woman at the center of an alleged police brutality controversy involving Normal Police Officers, was finally arrested and extradited back to McLean County after nearly two months on the lam.

Taylor Brown, an 19-year old African American woman, was arrested last year when she refused to hand her phone over to police when they demanded it without a warrant. The videos from the ensuing scuffle went viral.

Despite being arrested for resisting arrest and battery of police officers, she was later released from jail with no bond & no charges. She later filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the officers who arrested her.

There was much grandstanding by her lawyers regarding the incident and much debate about the legality of the warrantless seizure of the phone.

However, almost nothing has been reported on the whole reason Brown was at the Normal Police Department in the first place. Earlier that night, a fire had occurred at her house. In an exclusive interview with Agitation Rising, Brown’s roommate, Ashontis Davis, alleges Brown started the fire at their home that night after a domestic dispute involving another roommate.

After nearly a year of relative silence regarding this case Brown was charged with two counts of Aggravated Battery of a Police Officer on January 17th, 2024. The charges were filed by Tom Brown¹ of the Office of the Illinois State’s Attorney Appellate Prosecutor. He was assigned to the case after the McLean Couty State’s Attorney’s office recused itself for unknown conflicts of interest. These are two Class C felonies.

Things quickly went from bad to worse for Ms. Brown. The civil rights attorneys who initially filed Brown’s federal civil rights lawsuit, Abby Bakos and Ronak Maisuria, both filed motions to withdraw from her case.

Brown’s arraignment for criminal charges in McLean County and the hearing for her attorneys to withdraw from the civil case were held on the same day, Friday, February 16, 2024.

Brown failed to appear to both hearings.

In Mclean County, the special prosecutor, Tom Brown, requested a bench warrant be issued to bring Ms. Brown into custody. Judge Scott Black granted the request and issued an arrest warrant for Taylor Brown. Prosecutor Brown declined to comment on the case to Agitating Rising.

In Peoria, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan E. Hawley granted the motion to withdraw by attorneys Abby Bakos and Ronak Maisuria from the civil case. Both attorneys stated they did not know Brown’s current location. Brown was initially given fourteen days to respond with new counsel otherwise her civil case would be dismissed from federal court. This was later extended to April 19^th, 2024.

Social media posts by Brown indicated that she was in Atlanta, Georgia attending Paul Mitchell Beauty School. Agitation Rising confirmed with Paul Mitchell Beauty School in Atlanta that Taylor Brown was currently enrolled there.² Two days before her civil case was to be dismissed, a new attorney stepped forward to represent Brown at her civil trial. Jonathan Loevy filed a notice of appearance on April 17^th, 2024. In a concurrent motion for miscellaneous relief, Loevy stated:

“Plaintiff [Taylor Brown] was arrested in Atlanta, where she lived (and where she lived at the time of the last court appearance that she missed). After being arrested, Plaintiff waived extradition in late March, but remains jailed while she waits for the Normal Defendants to come pick her up and bring her back to Illinois.”

Because Brown was incarcerated waiting extradition, Loevy stated he had yet to speak with Brown. Loevy had only spoken with Brown’s mother, Chicago Police Detective Annyce Brown, and Brown’s criminal defense attorney, Andrea Lyon.

Agitation Rising has reached out to Loevy & Loevy for comment but has yet to receive a response.

On Thursday, April 18, 2024, Brown was returned to McLean County. She was briefly incarcerated in the McLean County Detention Facility before appearing in court. The court granted Brown pre-trial release with her only restriction being she cannot leave the state pending trial.

Brown’s next court date for her criminal case is July 3^rd, 2024 at 10 A.M.

Brown’s next status conference for her civil case is May 5^th, 2024 at 10 A.M.

Brown has not been charged with arson at this time. She is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

1. No relation.
2. Brown had previously been a student a Paul Mitchell Beauty School in Normal, IL in 2022, though she was not a student at the time of the fire at her residence and her subsequent arrest for battery of police officers. Brown’s roommate, Ashontis Davis, claims Brown was suspended from the beauty school and was not enrolled anywhere at the time of the fire on February 8th, 2023.