A Douglas County sheriff’s deputy broke the arm of an unarmed woman accused of no crime during a welfare check at her home, a federal lawsuit claims.
Cristi Lundquist’s sister called the sheriff’s office on Aug. 14, 2017, after not hearing from Lundquist since the day before, according to the lawsuit filed April 3 in Colorado’s U.S. District Court. When the deputies knocked on Lundquist’s door, she opened it and after initially refusing to talk to them, the deputies entered her home.
Lundquist told the deputies that she was an alcoholic but didn’t want their help. Deputy Leroy Nichols asked her to leave the apartment but Lundquist refused.
Lundquist became upset and asked the deputies to leave, which they refused to do. Nichols then grabbed her arm, wrenching her forearm down while holding her bicep in place, according to the lawsuit.
“When he did that, Ms. Lundquistap arm made an audible cracking sound,” the lawsuit states.
At a hospital doctor diagnosed a fractured humerus.
“In addition to the pain and limitations she experienced immediately after Nichols broke her arm, Ms. Lundquist, today, continues to have severe nerve pain that radiates down her right arm, diminished grip and right hand weakness, inability to lift her arm above her shoulder, and inability to perform certain activities of daily living,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also alleges the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office use-of-force training is inadequate. The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a reporter’s call.
“In other words, on information and belief, DCSO deputies are trained to perceive even benign interactions as threatening, and to use physical force upon their perception of that threat,” the lawsuit states. “As a result, Nichols treated Ms. Lundquistap obvious non-threatening conduct as that which required physical force, causing Nichols to hurt Ms. Lundquist even though his stated purpose for unlawfully entering Ms. Lundquistap home was to help her.”
