Excessive Use of Force

In Lowell on 5/8/06, Mr. Bailey, a professor, received a call from his son, who was having difficulty with building security. Mr. Bailey rushed downstairs, not pausing to put on shoes. Officers were striking his son with batons. Mr. Bailey urged his son to calm down. Officers then roughed up Mr. Bailey, arrested him, and charged him with disorderly conduct, assault and battery on an officer, and resisting arrest. Mr. Bailey suffered nerve damage from the handcuffs. He was held overnight without medical care for his cut foot, even though he was diabetic and had high blood pressure.

Ron Parsons awoke at night and thought he saw a burglar outside his door. He slammed the door, got his gun, and called 911. Dispatcher told Ron to put away the gun and connected him with police outside. Ron came out and was told to kneel or lay on the ground. Ron refused. He was tased, kicked and punched. No charges filed except that after he made an open records request, warrant was issued and he was charged with obstructing an officer’s official duties, a misdemeanor. Went to trial and found not guilty.

My client’s car was stopped without p.c. of wrongdoing and he was eventually tasered three times. He received stitches in his lip that had to be repaired 2 additional times.

Officer Nate Kinsey hit Plaintiff in the face with a closed fist, and officers then pulled Plaintiff from the rear of a vehicle. Plaintiff was subsequently prone on the ground and his hands were above his head. Nevertheless, Officer Kinsey hit Plaintiff with a closed fist approximately nine more times. Officer Schwarze removed the cartridge from his Taser, held the trigger down, and delivered approximately three drive stuns to Plaintiff. Officer Aric Gallatin kicked Plaintiff approximately three times and stomped on him approximately twice.

On March 16, 2009, Boston police officers attacked O’Brien because they were angry that he was filming them with his cell phone. Officer Diep Nguyen grabbed O’Brien’s phone while officer David Williams threw O’Brien to the ground. Williams put his arms around O’Brien’s neck and applied pressure, choking O’Brien. Officers struck O’Brien in the head, causing bleeding and a contusion in his brain. Mr. O’Brien has not been able to return to work as a correctional officer.

Plaintiff was in the wrong place at the wrong time, as officers were raiding the upstairs unit in the duplex where Plaintiff lived downstairs. Plaintiff was hit by the front door to the duplex when Officer Peter Stanton rammed it open. Plaintiff was subsequently thrown to the floor and stomped on by Officer Stanton, though Officer Stanton denied stomping on Plaintiff.

Officer Lecy threw Plaintiff to the ground after Plaintiff was in handcuffs. Officer Lecy also stated that “all you Native Americans are nothing but fucking animals.” Plaintiff said during his deposition that he suffered neck stiffness and emotional distress as a result of Officer Lecy’s excessive force and racist remark. In exchange for Plaintiff’s agreement to dismiss his claim for infliction of emotional distress, Defendants agreed not to bring a motion for summary judgment.