Man beaten, arrested by Lakewood cops sues, saying report that he spat at them is a lie
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.
“We can no longer accept that we have a system that allows police to have absolute power without some check on the level of authority that we give them,” Williamson’s attorney, James Bible, told The News Tribune. “It’s time to make sure that they’re treated like everybody else in so many other ways.”
A lawyer for the city and the four police officers, John Justice, declined to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday because litigation is ongoing. In an answer filed to the lawsuit Feb. 2, the defendants denied that any officer made a false claim or that Williamson was “brutally” assaulted, as the lawsuit claims. The city also denies officers changed their testimony at trial.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages to be proven at trial, payment for legal fees and any other relief deemed appropriate by the court. The original tort claim filed in the case sought $500,000, Bible said, but exactly how much should be rewarded to Williamson would be up to a jury to decide.
Police reports in Williamson’s criminal case show that three officers reported hearing or seeing Williamson spit at officer Jared Pingul from a distance of 5 or 10 feet as they were leaving his brother’s apartment sometime after 1:15 a.m.
When Williamson’s assault case went to trial, his lawsuit claims, the three officers changed their accounts. Pingul reportedly testified that “mist in the air” had come from Williamson, and the two other officers who testified said they didn’t see any mist or spit.
At the end of the two-day trial in December 2021 and after less than two hours of deliberation, a jury couldn’t reach a verdict over whether Williamson was guilty of fourth-degree assault. The matter was set over for a new trial, but Judge Lisa Mansfield dismissed the case Feb. 17, 2022. It’s unclear why the case was dismissed. A spokesperson for the City of Lakewood told The News Tribune the prosecutor on the case no longer works for the city, and numerous factors go into deciding whether to retry a case, including case load, the criminal history of the defendant and the availability of witnesses.
Bible told The News Tribune he thinks part of the reason police changed their story at trial was because a neighbor’s surveillance camera captured video of the incident. Bible has previously represented the family of Manuel Ellis, who died in police custody in Tacoma.
“The video clearly indicates that there was no spit that occurred,” Bible said. “The range that officers were from Mr. Williamson at the time they turned around and charged at him would suggest that at no point was anybody touched or hit with anything, especially not spit.”
Bible said he met Williamson after his family reached out to his law office with a video of the incident.
“The team reviewed it and said that this is a critical civil rights matter that needs to be addressed, that often people that live to tell the tale are still not believed,” Bible said. “And this is exactly the sort of thing that we need to pursue to prevent injustices similar to some of those horrific events that we see.”
Williamson’s significant other witnessed the incident and testified at his trial. According to the lawsuit, she begged the officers to stop beating Williamson because she feared they would kill him. The officers allegedly threatened to arrest her if she interfered.
Photos taken of Williamson after his arrest and filed in his court case showed small wounds on his hands. A photo provided by Bible showed a similar injury on his forehead. Williamson’s lawsuit states that he had to have surgery on his shoulder due to the incident, and the injury had a significant effect on his mobility and independence.
The lawsuit also contends that the City of Lakewood failed to adequately train its officers, and that the city has failed to investigate, punish and discipline instances of similar misconduct. Bible said he hopes this case leads to positive change.
Noise complaint draws officers
Williamson was having a conversation with his brother when police arrived at the apartment, his lawsuit states, and he has maintained that law enforcement had no legitimate reason to show up.
Here’s how police reports described the incident:
Two officers, Joshua Repp and Stephen Moffitt, were dispatched to the single-story building near Springbrook Park just after 1 a.m. for a report of a domestic disturbance, according to police reports. Dispatchers advised that three males were going in and out of the apartment while having a loud argument. Within 10 minutes of being dispatched, Repp asked for two more officers to respond for two uncooperative brothers.
Officer Jeremy Keisler reported that when he arrived, Williamson was just outside his apartment door, obviously intoxicated and speaking loudly at Moffitt. Inside, Repp was reportedly speaking with Williamson’s brother, who was also intoxicated and “belligerent.” Keisler wrote that it seemed to him that the brothers’ behavior was pushing each other to be more uncooperative with officers.
Williamson’s demeanor switched between confrontational and cooperative, Keisler reported, and at one point the officer detained the man in handcuffs because he tried to walk back into his apartment. Williamson then explained that the argument with his brother had only been verbal. His brother said the same to Repp and Moffitt, and Williamson was released from the cuffs.
One officer tried to explain the state’s domestic-violence laws to Williamson to deter him from causing further issues with his brother, Keisler reported. But the brothers were becoming belligerent again, he wrote in his report, and it was decided that the officers’ presence was no longer helping the situation.
“Officer Moffitt, Officer Pingul, and I began walking away from the apartment towards the parking lot when Kevin once again began yelling obscenities at us,” Keisler wrote in his arrest report. “I heard Kevin bring up phlegm in his throat with a loud and exaggerated sound. Kevin then spit towards us from a distance of approximately ten feet striking Officer Pingul in the right side of the face.”
Keisler immediately advised Williamson that he was under arrest. He reported that due to the man’s previously challenging behavior, size and level of intoxication, he decided taking the man into custody in a prone position would be safest.
“I pushed Kevin backwards up against the apartment’s exterior wall for distraction and balance disruption before using his shirt and right arm to pull him forward,” Keisler wrote.
Once on the ground, Keisler reported that Williamson wasn’t compliant with commands to put his hands behind his back. The officer wrote that the man complied after Repp displayed his Taser in “drive stun” mode. Pingul reported that Williamson didn’t put his hands behind his back until he used his knee to strike the man in the ribs three times.
Williamson was assisted to his feet, and he was placed in the back of a patrol car. Keisler reported that the man told him he wasn’t injured as a result of the force used against him.
