A man who claims he was beaten and arrested after being falsely accused of spitting at a Lakewood police officer is suing the city, its police department and the officers who responded to his brother’s apartment to investigate a noise complaint.
Kevin Williamson’s civil rights lawsuit, filed Jan. 16 in U.S. District Court, alleges that the officers discriminated against him, a Black man, by using excessive force, and that their actions caused him “severe emotional distress.” Police reports and surveillance video of the Feb. 27, 2021 incident show that Williamson was pushed into a wall then pulled to the ground on his stomach.
The 37-year-old man resisted arrest by not putting his arms behind his back, a police report states, so one officer kneed him in the ribs three times to get him to comply while another displayed his Taser.
Williamson, who was prosecuted for fourth-degree assault for the alleged spitting, also contends police changed their accounts of what happened that night at his trial.