A teenager is alleging in a lawsuit that a plainclothes Washtenaw County sheriff's deputy didn't identify himself as police when he confronted the teen as he was sprinting on an Ypsilanti sidewalk, grabbed him and slammed him against a door, knocking both of them through glass.
Charles Taylor, 19, of Ypsilanti, is suing Deputy Ryan Stuck, Det. Kevin Parviz, Ypsilanti police Officer Anthony Schembri, the city of Ypsilanti and Washtenaw County.
He is suing for assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false arrest and conspiracy. The suit, filed in late September in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, seeks an unspecified amount of money. It claims the officers were biased toward Taylor because he's black.
Ypsilanti City Attorney John Barr and County Attorney Curt Hedger could not be reached for comment.
According to the suit, Taylor was sprinting from the Bank of Ann Arbor on West Michigan Avenue to LMT Party Store on Pearl Street, where he works. He picked up some change at the bank, the lawsuit says, because the store was short and needed it immediately to serve customers.
As Taylor was sprinting on a sidewalk on Michigan Avenue near Huron Street, the suit alleges that Stuck got out of an unmarked Ford sedan, also occupied by Det. Parviz. Stuck was wearing blue jeans and a blue hooded University of Michigan sweatshirt, the suit says. It also says the car's hidden emergency lights were not on. Schembri was in a patrol vehicle in the area and all three officers had seen Taylor sprinting earlier and thought it was suspicious, the suit says.
According to the suit, Stuck was behind Taylor and yelled "Hey!" prompting Taylor to slow and turn. Taylor was unaware Stuck was a police officer, the suits says, as Stuck ran toward him.
The suit alleges that Stuck grabbed Taylor "violently and drove him into the entrance way of a vacant building, slamming him into the glass of the doorway." Both were knocked through the glass and suffered injuries, the suit says, without being more specific. Stuck pulled Taylor off the ground and assisted Schembri with putting handcuffs on him, the suit claims.
Taylor explained to officers that he was running because "he was getting change at the bank," the suit says. According to the suit, Taylor was holding two rolls of change.
Schembri searched him for weapons and anything else illegal and found nothing, the suit says. The suit alleges that Taylor was put in the back of a patrol car, but never charged with anything.
http://www.annarbor.com/news/teen-alleges-in-lawsuit-that-washtenaw-county-sheriffs-deputy-assaulted-him/
