(CNN)A Black man who was slammed to the ground as he was wrongly arrested is suing the Georgia city of Valdosta and numerous Valdosta Police Department officers for excessive force and for violating his civil rights, according to court documents.
In a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court, Antonio Arnelo Smith, a Valdosta resident, also accused the police department of illegal arrest, false detention, assault as well as battery and is seeking $700,000 in a settlement.
The city attorney was served with a copy of the lawsuit on Monday and “the city has not had time to review the document and therefore cannot comment on the content of the suit,” according to a VPD statement released the same day.
An updated comment had not been issued from the city attorney as of Thursday afternoon. Ashlyn Johnson, a spokesperson for the city of Valdosta told CNN she expected a new statement to be issued Thursday night.
VPD released a five-minute body camera video of the incident from Sergeant Bill Wheeler. Nathaniel Haugabrook II, an attorney representing Smith, sent CNN an 11-minute body camera video from Officer Dominic Henry.
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Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/us/valdosta-wrongly-arrested-black-man-sues-police/index.html