Cops Mistaken Wrong Guy For Perp, Rough Him Up, Now Being Sued For 700k Dollars

USA TODAY- A Black man has sued a police department in Georgia for “unnecessary and excessive” use of force in a detainment from February.

Antonio Arnelo Smith, 47, filed a federal suit Friday alleging that Valdosta, Georgia, police officers injured him after body slamming him, and violated his civil rights when they wrongly detained him after identifying him as a suspect in a panhandling case. He is requesting $700,000 in compensation.

"From the moment Mr. Smith was slammed to the ground until he walked away, he cried and screamed in agonizing pain," reads the lawsuit, which was filed against the officers and the city of Valdosta.

A statement by the city said that it "takes any report of any injury to a citizen seriously," and said that Smith did not file a complaint with Valdosta police.

Per a police report obtained by the Valdosta Daily Times, a man, who was suspected of bothering customers outside a Walgreens, was wearing a brown hoodie and blue pants.

A patrolman approaches the man, who police identified as Smith. According to bodycam footage reviewed by USA TODAY, the man was wearing a red jacket and khaki pants.

An officer asks the man why he was at the Walgreens, and later asks for identification. Smith gives his ID to the officers. He explains that he was at the Walgreens to go to an in-store Western Union, waiting for his sister to wire him money.

“I’m not doing anything, I’ve been around cameras,” he said, telling officers to look at security footage recorded at the Walgreens.

A sergeant then arrives, immediately walking up to the man, grabbing him and restraining his arms in a “bear hug." He instructs Smith three times to put his hands behind his back “like he’s told.”

After the third instruction, the sergeant body slams Smith. He starts wailing in pain, exclaiming that the sergeant broke his wrist.