Former Idaho Springs Police Officer Nicholas Hanning Faces Civil Lawsuit For Separate Controversial Arrest
IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) - A former Idaho Springs police officer faces a civil lawsuit for the arrest of a man who is deaf. The arrest occurred in 2019.
The lawsuit names Nicholas Hanning, Officer Ellie Summers, the City of Idaho Springs and Clear Creek County. Hanning was fired in July of 2021 following a separate arrest in which he's accused of violently arresting a 75-year-old man.
The latest civil rights lawsuit, filed last week, is on behalf of Brady Mistic. Police pulled him over for running a stop sign. Mistic is hearing impaired and cannot read lips. He communicates through sign language and/or written communication.
While officers say they subdued him after he rapidly approached them, Mistic claims officers tackled him to the ground after he parked his vehicle at a business and stepped outside.
The lawsuit alleges officers handcuffed and tasered him multiple times after he tried to communicate with them. Hanning and Summers claim they didn't know he was deaf.
Mistic was hospitalized.
Neither dash camera video or body camera video of the actual arrest has been released, however body camera video from another officer shows officers speaking to Mistic through an interpreter at the hospital.
He was initially charged with second degree assault on an officer and resisting arrest, but those were later dismissed.
Mistic's lawyer says he spent three months in jail on those charges, and, during that time, was never given an interpreter or any reasonable way to communicate despite repeated written requests.
His lawyer says it kept him from access to counsel and the ability to bail out of jail.