A convict has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that while he was incarcerated at Adams County Detention Facility deputies pulled him out of his wheelchair and pulled him onto the floor, dislocating his knee in the process, and then falsely charged him with assault.
A federal lawsuit on behalf of Alexander Garcia was filed Wednesday against eight Adams County sheriff’s deputies by Boulder attorney Luke McConnell and Denver attorney Marshall Breit.
Garcia, 43, who was sentenced to five years in prison for a Jan. 15, 2012 assault on police in a separate case, is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and attorney’s fees.
Sgt. Jim Morgan, spokesman for the Adams County Sheriff’s Department, said he could not comment on the lawsuit.
The incident that happened in the jail’s secured entrance at 11:40 a.m. May 27, 2015, was captured on a surveillance camera, according to the lawsuit. Inside the entrance, Garcia, who was seated in the wheelchair with his hands in his lap holding papers, asked to be seen by mental health professionals, the lawsuit says.
At that moment, Deputy Christopher Long lunged at Garcia without provocation, grabbed Garcia’s left forearm and slammed his right hand down on Garcia’s neck and shoulder before pulling him out of his wheelchair, the lawsuit says.
Then Long, Deputy Cooper Cramblet and Scott Dow “assaulted” Garcia and pulled him to the ground, the lawsuit says. Other deputies responded, with two of them pressing Tasers against Garcia’s body and threatening to shock him.
The deputies handcuffed Garcia behind his back and carried him by his arms and legs to a holding cell because he couldn’t walk on his knee, the lawsuit says.
Sgt. Phil Waken ordered that Garcia be placed in a prone position on the floor for 2 hours and 40 minutes with his “tight” handcuffs still on, the lawsuit says. With his face to the floor, Garcia urinated on himself and suffered injuries to his wrists, the lawsuit says.
The arrest affidavit failed to mention the wheelchair or that Garcia’s hands were on his lap when he was grabbed and falsely claimed that he struck Long three times in the face, the lawsuit says. Only Long mentioned the punches. The other two deputies never mentioned them. The charges against Garcia were later dropped.
Authorities then arrested Garcia on two charges of second-degree assault on police officers even though they had access to all videotapes that contradicted the allegations made in official reports by deputies.
The surveillance footage of the holding cell was “willfully” destroyed, the lawsuit says.
Two days later, Deputy Cynthia Hill swore at Garcia while telling him and other inmates to shut up and punched him in the arm while he was faced away from her. Deputy Kyle Swing and Sgt. Robert Hannah rushed into the secured entrance and slammed him against the wall, the lawsuit says.
