In the year 2020, Christopher Bailey was subjected to a severe beating at the hands of a gang of sheriff’s officers after what he believed to be a routine traffic check.
His post-doc legal action has now resulted in a settlement of $4.75 million being awarded to him.
The irreversible damage he experienced cannot be remedied by financial compensation.
In his lawsuit, Bailey claims that on May 4, 2020, when driving home from work in Inglewood, he was pulled over for crossing lanes and given a ticket.
Bailey claims that when the two deputies approached his car, they immediately yanked him out of the vehicle without giving and began hitting him.
Bailey was choked, severely assaulted and kicked, and then tased before being taken into custody.
According to the allegations made in the lawsuit, the two policemen also asked for assistance, which resulted in the arrival of four other deputies who engaged in the beating of Bailey for many minutes.
A witness was able to capture some of the aftermath on camera, including a shot of Bailey’s face as he sat shackled on the ground following the incident. Bailey’s face could not be recognized due to the significant swelling.
The police claim that they responded because they observed the suspect grab for a firearm, however this allegation has been called into question since the prosecution have said that no weapon was recovered from the incident.
After that, the sheriff’s department dropped the (quite common) accusation of “resisting arrest” and instead issued Bailey additional counts.
Bailey was charged with three felonies for resisting arrest, in addition to two marijuana-related misdemeanors, by the district attorney’s office, which was headed at the time by Jackie Lacey.
After some time, the charges of both felonies and one of the misdemeanors were dismissed.
According to Bailey’s attorneys, their client entered a plea of “no contest” and was therefore found guilty of a second misdemeanor as well as a breach of a vehicle code. A
n official document written by the prosecution states that Bailey had three pounds of marijuana in the vehicle, which he claimed was for his own personal use.
The accusations that black guys are more likely to be beaten by police as a result of their resistance to arrest are true.
In 1991, approximately 28 miles north of Inglewood, Rodney King was subjected to violent beatings by an LAPD officer who claimed the beatings were justified because King was “resisting.”
Tyre Nichols was also the victim of a horrific beating earlier this year at the hands of a gang of Memphis police officers who claimed that he was “resisting.” Nichols succumbed to his wounds a few days later and died.
Do all of those steps really need to be taken to shackle a single individual?
In the complaint that Bailey filed in 2021 for excessive force, he said that he had suffered irreversible eyesight loss, tooth loss, and had to endure numerous face reconstruction surgery.
Bailey also stated that he had to go through many facial reconstruction procedures.
He filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for physical assault, carelessness, and violation of his civil rights.
It is unknown if the officers involved were subjected to disciplinary action as a result of the event or whether they are still employed with the department in general.
However, according to The Times, all of the deputies involved in the event were able to avoid being charged with any criminal offenses, and at some point in time, it was discovered that one of the deputies was a member of the Grim Reapers deputy gang.
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