Antonio Arnelo Smith is suing the Valdosta, Georgia Police Department after he says police used excessive force when they detained him back in February after mistaking him for someone else.
According to the department’s account, officers responded to a 911 call at a Walgreens on Feb. 8, looking for a man who was reportedly harassing customers, screaming loudly, and asking for money. The suspect was identified as an African American male wearing a brown hoodie and blue pants. The two officers who arrived on the scene split up.
One officer found a man who was sitting behind the Walgreens and ran his ID, finding he had active felony arrest warrants. The other officer began scanning the parking lot and saw Smith, who fit the description given during the call, walking away from the store.
After hearing information about the call, another officer responded to the scene, believing Smith was the suspect in question.
Footage of the incident shows the officer putting his arms around the subject and asking him to put his hands behind his back. Smith twice cried out, “What are you doing?” Police say Smith “began to resist by pulling his arms forward and tensing his body.”
Seconds later, the officer slammed Smith to the ground. As he was being cuffed, Smith shouted, “You broke my ribs,” and loudly cried while the officers cuffed his wrists.
When Smith asked why he was being detained, one officer responded, “We have a warrant for your arrest.” The officer who originally responded to the scene replied, “Hey, this was another guy. The guy with a warrant’s over there.” The same officer later appears to whisper, “Goddamnit.”
The lawsuit claims that Smith’s wrist was fractured in the incident. Officers say that, at the scene, he refused medical treatment.
Smith claims that the force used on him was “unnecessary and excessive.” He’s asking for $700,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.
