Arkansas Defense Attorney Seeks Damages Over Shooting After Alleged Psychosis Episode

Attorney Chad Green once practiced in the Pulaski County Courthouse in Little Rock. Now he is facing a charge of robbery there, after pepper spraying an armored car guard and getting shot in 2024. (File photo)

Central Arkansas defense attorney Chad Green says he was in the grip of a temporary episode of psychosis when he made headlines after a violent exchange with a Loomis armored car guard in 2024.

Green, 48, described the encounter in a lawsuit he filed last month in Pulaski County Circuit Court.

The guard was servicing an ATM in Little Rock just before 8 a.m. on April 24, 2024, when Green approached and asked something along the lines of “how he was doing.” Then Green sprayed the guard with pepper spray, the suit says, and the guard responded by firing his handgun.

The suit against Loomis accuses the guard of using excessive force and says Green screamed and fell into the grass, yelling that he had no gun and begging the guard to “please stop shooting.”

Instead, the complaint says, the guard rushed around the front of the armored car and started firing again. Green was eventually hit twice.

Local newscasts framed the encounter as an attempted armored car robbery rather than a mental health break. And the episode began a downward spiral for the lawyer.

Green’s law license was temporarily suspended on June 13, and later that month, he was charged in Pulaski County Circuit Court with felony robbery. The charge is pending.

In January, Green filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. In the filing, he reported being unemployed and listed $228,321 in assets and $420,250 in debts.

He said in the lawsuit against Loomis that he may never be able to practice law again.

Green did not return phone messages or an email from Arkansas Business. 

The Shooting

Green graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 2000 with a degree in public administration. He then received his law degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 2003, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Green said in his civil lawsuit that after being shot, he was diagnosed with Hashimoto encephalopathy. The disease is a rare disorder that can be characterized by impaired brain function.

Green’s LinkedIn profile said he has been an attorney and owner of the law firm Green & Gillispie of Little Rock since 2006. But the firm said he’s no longer associated with the practice.

Green listed his gross income in 2023 as $65,000.

After the shooting, Green got on a bicycle and rode away. He was later found near Interstate 430 and Rodney Parham Road. Green was rushed to a hospital, where he would remain for about 10 days.

Green lost his right kidney and part of his large bowel, he said in the lawsuit.

He said he has pain every day from one of the bullets still being lodged in his spine and another near his hip and pelvis, “and the overall traumatic pain from having been shot twice.”

He said he suffered “severe emotional distress and mental anguish” at the time of the shooting and still does. He expects to feel pain from having been shot for the rest of his life.

Green is suing Loomis Armored US LLC of Houston, alleging negligence, battery and assault, and is seeking an unspecified amount of damages. He is representing himself in the lawsuit.

As of Tuesday, Loomis had not been served with the lawsuit. It didn’t return a message seeking comment.

Meanwhile, Green’s criminal trial awaits. He has had a mental evaluation concerning his criminal responsibility, and a hearing on the assessment is set for July 8 in front of Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Gill.

Green is represented in the criminal case by Christian Alexander of Jacksonville, who did not respond to requests for comment