By FireRescue1 Staff
LAWRENCE, Kan. — A firefighter and Navy veteran filed a lawsuit against the city of Lawrence following allegations that police used excessive and negligent force against him during his arrest.
Miguel Armenta, was arrested April 19, 2014, after police broke up an argument at a veteran’s hall, reported the Daily Progress. Court documents revealed that Armenta and a group of friends rented a party bus to attend a baseball game, when a fight broke out between a couple on the bus. A nearby resident called the police after the argument continued in the veteran’s hall parking lot.
A witness said officers struck the boyfriend’s head against a squad car hard enough to leave a “clear dent in the side of the vehicle,” and another beat and arrested Armenta when he became involved in the situation. Sgt. Craig Shanks, an officer on the scene, said Armenta was arrested for interfering with the girlfriend’s arrest as well as his own..
Police stated no one was beaten and officers acted within their jurisdiction.
However, Armenta testified that his hands were up and he was backing up when police took him down and beat him, spraining his left arm in the process.
Armenta was charged and found guilty of interfering with his own arrest.
Although Armenta filed the civil lawsuit in October 2014, the case will begin in Sept. 12, according to the Lawrence Journal-World. He is seeking $225,000 in damages.