AUSTIN (KXAN) — Attorneys filed a lawsuit against the City of Austin and three of its police officers, alleging officers used excessive force against a man whom the attorneys claimed had a history of suicidal ideation. did.
“His mother was worried about him because he threatened suicide,” said Jeff Edwards, who is representing James Johnson in the lawsuit. “The police have a duty to go there.” did.”
Edwards said Johnson’s jaw was broken in the August 2021 incident.
In police body camera video of the incident, three officers can be seen responding to Johnson’s home.At the beginning of the video, Johnson is shown standing in a doorway. He shows his hand and repeats, “Not a threat.” He wears an outfit that looks nothing like boxer shorts.
The video shows Johnson and the officer going back and forth between the officer asking the officer to come out and the officer telling Johnson that he does not want to leave the house.
An officer could be heard saying, “I just want to help you,” and Johnson replied, “If you want to help, you must listen to me…I promise, is not a threat to
The video shows Johnson further out with his hands up. At this point the officer instructed him to get down to the ground. It seems that the police are slowly approaching.
Body camera footage then shows Johnson beginning to return home. This is when the officers speed up and at least one can be seen using a Taser on Johnson.
In the video, officers were seen attempting to handcuff Johnson and were heard repeating, “Put your hands behind your back.” Johnson continued to say, “I’m not a threat,” and the officer put his hands in the handcuffs. I order you to put it down.
At this point, Johnson’s attorney said the video showed another officer smashing Johnson’s head to the ground, “making him bloodied and breaking his jaw.”
“He was rushed by three police officers and attacked,” said Edwards, an attorney. “Police immediately resorted to the use of force before being called upon.”
The City of Austin issued the following statement regarding the lawsuit:
“We have not yet served time, but we are prepared to defend the city and its officials in response to this lawsuit.”
city spokesperson
A city spokeswoman said the city has not yet received service and is not in a position to comment further.
Neither the city nor the APD can comment at this time, but they showed the video to Kevin Lawrence, executive director of the Texas City Police Association.
“So someone is worried he’s in danger and the police are expected to do something about it,” Lawrence said. You are not a dangerous person and you have no right to contact me.”
Lawrence said officers have an obligation to interact in some way.
“And now the cops are in this quagmire. rice field. “On the other hand, they try to detain him … they can take him to a medical professional, but he resists. He did it here. This is a no-win situation for officers.”
According to the APD General Order, “If the incident is an emergency involving a person in a mental health crisis, a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officer will be deployed as the primary response officer. , a patrol officer will be dispatched immediately and a CIT officer will respond as soon as possible.”
KXAN has not been able to independently confirm whether the officer who responded to Johnson’s home was a CIT officer.
