Plaintiff Davaughn Tate-Johnson claims an officer punched him three times during an arrest in January.
A new civil rights lawsuit claims that an Erie police officer used excessive force during a January arrest by punching a suspect three times when other officers were restraining the man’s arms.
The suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Erie, centers on an arrest that occurred in the 900 block of East 26th Street during the early morning of Jan. 4.
Plaintiff Davaughn M. Tate-Johnson claims in the suit that Erie police Patrolman Joshua Allison punched him three times as two other officers were holding Tate-Johnson’s arms behind his back during the arrest.
“Officer Allison punched Mr. Tate-Johnson three times in his stomach in quick succession, while Mr. Tate-Johnson stood restrained by the other two officers unable to move or shield his body from the blows,” Tate-Johnson’s lawyer, John Mizner, wrote in the complaint.
Tate-Johnson pleaded guilty to a summary count related to compliance with a police order after the prosecution dropped a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest that police filed after the incident, according to court records.
Mizner’s office posted a partial video of the arrest, which the complaint claims was taken by a witness, on Facebook.
The 12-page complaint names Allison as the sole defendant and makes no larger claims about the Erie police’s arrest practices. Ed Betza, the city of Erie’s solicitor, said he believes Allison will be represented by the city in the lawsuit.
Betza declined to comment on the claims in the suit, which has not yet been served.
“At this point, I need to see the complaint,” Betza said. “We will look into it and respond at that point.”
Erie police Chief Dan Spizarny declined to comment and referred questions to the solicitor’s office. An attempt to reach Allison was not successful.
Tate faced charges related to the arrest. He pleaded guilty in February to a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia and summary counts of disorderly conduct and compliance with a police order.
Other charges, including resisting arrest and driving under the influence, were withdrawn when Tate entered the plea, court records show.
According to the criminal complaint, police responded to East 26th and Elm streets at about 2:49 a.m. on Jan. 4 for a report of a burgundy Chevrolet Suburban driving at a high rate of speed.
The officers who responded located a vehicle matching that description with no headlights on at a red light at East 26th Street and East Avenue, police wrote in the complaint.
The vehicle had an expired inspection sticker and Tate-Johnson, who was driving the vehicle, provided a driver’s license that was suspended when police pulled him over, according to the complaint.
Police wrote that there was a strong odor of marijuana and alcohol coming from the vehicle and that Tate-Johnson had bloodshot eyes and refused to step out of his vehicle.
Tate-Johnson “held onto the steering wheel until officers had to physically remove him from the vehicle,” Patrolman Daniel Post wrote in the complaint. Tate-Johnson “did kick officers and refused to provide us with his hands,” Post wrote.
Post also wrote that Tate-Johnson continued reaching for his waistband until officers had to “pry his hand” to place him in handcuffs.
When police tried to search him, Tate-Johnson kicked his legs and turned away, according to the complaint. Police said he also tried to crawl under the vehicle to resist complying with the officers.
Police reported finding suspected marijuana “shake,” or small bits of marijuana, on the driver and passenger seats of Tate-Johnson’s vehicle and a ripped plastic bag containing marijuana inside a Gatorade bottle in the vehicle.
Mizner in the civil complaint wrote that the description of the arrest provided by police was an “attempt to pre-empt and discredit any claim that officers had acted with excessive force or otherwise violated Mr. Tate-Johnson’s civil rights.”
Mizner wrote that the claims that Tate-Johnson kicked at police, refused to provide his hands and crawled under the vehicle were false.
“In fact, the third-party video of the incident demonstrates their falsity,” he wrote.
Mizner wrote that Tate-Johnson did not exit his vehicle because he was “fearful for his safety” and believed that “it would be harder for police to assault and injure him” if he remained in the Suburban.
After police forced Tate-Johnson from the vehicle, two officers restrained his arms as he stood in the street, according to the civil complaint. Allison then attempted to “jump kick” Tate-Johnson’s stomach and punched him three times, the lawsuit claims.
“Between the second and third punch, an unknown officer ordered Mr. Tate-Johnson to get ‘on the ground,’ and officers proceeded to force Mr. Tate-Johnson down onto the pavement,” Mizner wrote. “It was impossible for Mr. Tate-Johnson to do anything to comply with this order because both his arms were being restrained by two officers.”
Tate-Johnson did not have a chance to comply before Allison punched him a third time, Mizner wrote.
The four-count complaint accuses Allison of violating the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which relates to search and seizure, intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault and battery.
The complaint also claims Tate-Johnson suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, neck and back pain, left hand numbness and other effects from the arrest. Tate-Johnson requested damages in excess of $75,000 at each count.
“Police officers have an incredibly dangerous job and play an essential role in our community,” Mizner said in an interview. “That is not, however, a license to use excessive force.”
Allison will have a chance to respond to the lawsuit in court. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter.
Original Article by: Madeleine O’Neill can be reached at 870-1728 or by email. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ETNoneill.