St. Cloud Times reports
Five St. Cloud police officers and the police department are being sued in federal court because a man says officers violated his civil rights when they used a Taser while trying to remove him from a convenience store.
Arnold Johnson sued the city and the officers after a January 2008 incident at JM Speedstop, 727 East St. Germain St. when police used a Taser on him several times after he refused to leave the store.
The lawsuit contends the officers used excessive force because Johnson was not arrested nor charged with a crime, wasn't held for any mental health concerns and because no store employee had asked that Johnson be removed.
Johnson is suing officers Derek Peters, Jeremiah Lund, Louis Bunde and Robb Schrom and Sgt. Kelly Simondet along with the department. He is seeking $2.2 million in damages, including a claim for $10,000 for each of the 49 seconds the Taser was used on him. His lawsuit alleges a civil rights violation and assault, battery and false imprisonment.
A reply filed in U.S. District Court by the lawyer representing the officers and the department contends the officers used reasonable force and acted within their duties.
Lawyers for Johnson and for the officers and city declined to comment on the case.
But court records detail what happened in the early hours of Jan. 3, 2008:
Police received a call reporting a man slumped over the steering wheel of a vehicle in the store's parking lot. They determined that Johnson had not been drinking. He told them he was warming up his vehicle after he had left a St. Cloud restaurant.
Officers asked for his license and gave Johnson a breath test that determined he had not been drinking.
Officers kept his license as Johnson went into the store to warm up and call his half-brother. Johnson told his half-brother that the police were harassing him and that he wanted his half-brother to come pick him up.
The officers asked Johnson to wait in the back of one of the squad cars, but Johnson refused to go outside of the store.
The clerk didn't complain about Johnson's conduct and didn't ask officers to remove him.
But after Johnson refused additional requests to leave, officers grabbed him by the arms and tried to drag him out.
Johnson grabbed a newspaper rack to prevent the officers from dragging him from the store. An officer then removed a Taser from his holster and told Johnson he would use it on him if he didn't put his hands behind his back.
Johnson didn't comply and the officer used the Taser in drive-stun mode.
That mode is a pain compliance tool in which the Taser is pressed against the skin but it won't incapacitate the person being touched.
In contrast, a Taser fired at a person from a distance releases probes that emit a charge that can incapacitate the person. Both uses of the Taser are considered use of force.
Officers used the drive-stun mode six to seven times on Johnson and once fired in the mode that released the probes, according to the court records. Johnson fell to the ground as officers tried to handcuff him, and he suffered a broken wrist during the incident.
Johnson was not cited for any crimes and was taken to St. Cloud Hospital for a medical evaluation.
Police filled out paperwork seeking a mental health evaluation for Johnson, according to a court filing by Joseph Flynn, the lawyer representing the officers and the department.
A court filing by Michael Gaarder, the St. Cloud lawyer representing Johnson,
takes issue with that, saying officers "allegedly completed the paperwork" to place Johnson on a 72-hour psychiatric hold.
The physician who examined and treated Johnson's broken wrist determined that Johnson didn't need to be placed on a hold and discharged him from the hospital, according to a court filing by Gaarder.
But after Johnson refused additional requests to leave, officers grabbed him by the arms and tried to drag him out.
Johnson grabbed a newspaper rack to prevent the officers from dragging him from the store. An officer then removed a Taser from his holster and told Johnson he would use it on him if he didn't put his hands behind his back.
Johnson didn't comply and the officer used the Taser in drive-stun mode.
That mode is a pain compliance tool in which the Taser is pressed against the skin but it won't incapacitate the person being touched.
In contrast, a Taser fired at a person from a distance releases probes that emit a charge that can incapacitate the person. Both uses of the Taser are considered use of force.
Officers used the drive-stun mode six to seven times on Johnson and once fired in the mode that released the probes, according to the court records. Johnson fell to the ground as officers tried to handcuff him, and he suffered a broken wrist during the incident.
Johnson was not cited for any crimes and was taken to St. Cloud Hospital for a medical evaluation.
Police filled out paperwork seeking a mental health evaluation for Johnson, according to a court filing by Joseph Flynn, the lawyer representing the officers and the department.
A court filing by Michael Gaarder, the St. Cloud lawyer representing Johnson,
takes issue with that, saying officers "allegedly completed the paperwork" to place Johnson on a 72-hour psychiatric hold.
The physician who examined and treated Johnson's broken wrist determined that Johnson didn't need to be placed on a hold and discharged him from the hospital, according to a court filing by Gaarder.Thanks to Injustice News feed
Leave a comment