Suit: Markham Cop Beat Disabled Man During Traffic Stop
(CBS) -- A man with sickle cell anemia filed suit Friday against a south suburban Markham police officer alleging that he was beaten during a traffic stop.
Lafayette Thomas, 47, filed the federal lawsuit Tuesday against the city of Markham and two officers for excessive force and assault and battery during a March 16 traffic stop.
Thomas's father, Cleophus Marshall, was driving him to a doctor appointment when they were pulled over near 167th Street and Pulaski Avenue, the suit says.
An officer who wasn't wearing a badge or uniform hat walked up and said Marshall was driving on a suspended license, and put him in the back of his squad car, the suit claims.
The officer told Thomas to get out of the car, refused to identify himself, and then started to threaten Thomas, the suit claims.
Thomas called his godmother, a police department employee, and the officer twisted Thomas' arm behind his back before slamming his face and torso onto the hood of his squad car, the suit claims.
Thomas "begged" the officer to stop, saying he had sickle cell anemia and had recently undergone brain surgery, the suit says. The officers left Thomas at the scene to book his father, the suit says.
He later had to be treated for contusions to his shoulder, arm and face, and later went into a "sickle cell crisis," that required a blood transfusion, the suit claims.
The seven-count lawsuit also names another officer that Thomas claims witnessed the incident and did not intervene. He is seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
Markham Police Deputy Chief James Walker and prosecutor for the city of Markham Steven R. Miller were not immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2016. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
