Billings resident Robert D.
Bassett says he got up in the night last year to let his dog out in his front
yard when he got tackled and injured by a Billings police officer who was
chasing a suspect.
The run-in, Bassett said,
left him with a torn rotator cuff that required shoulder surgery.
Bassett, 56, is suing
Billings Police Officer Paul Lamantia, who previously had been suspended and
then reinstated, and the city of Billings over the encounter.
Bassett alleges Lamantia’s
conduct was negligent and that the city violated his civil rights by creating a
risk of harm to citizens by allowing Lamantia to work without proper
supervision.
Bassett filed the suit in May
in state District Court. In July, the city had the case transferred into U.S.
District Court. The suit is assigned to Senior U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon,
who has set a scheduling conference for Nov. 7.
All parties are seeking a
jury trial. Bassett is seeking unspecified general and medical damages.
Russell Plath, a Billings
attorney who represents Bassett, said Tuesday that Bassett had to have “pretty
extensive surgery.”
Bassett, who is on Social
Security disability, had to wait for surgery until he qualified for Medicare.
Bassett had surgery this spring, Plath said.
The lawsuit stems from an
incident July 16, 2012, in which Lamantia was dispatched to a loud party in the
area of the 700 and 800 blocks of North 15th Street. The officer saw a person
running in a driveway at 818 N. 15th St., and started chasing the subject when
he lost his flashlight on the ground, Bassett’s complaint said.
Meanwhile, Bassett, who lives
at 820 N. 15th St., had gotten up to let out his dog. As Bassett entered his
front yard, he saw a person running in his neighbor’s driveway, the complaint
said. Bassett also saw a police officer in his neighbor’s driveway looking into
his yard for an object on the ground.
The officer then jumped over
a retaining wall into Bassett’s yard, wrapped his arms around Bassett, picked
him up and tackled him onto the ground, the complaint said.
Plath said some of the
incident could involve mistaken identity during a nighttime chase. “It was
dark. He dropped his flashlight,” he said. The officer was chasing a subject in
an underage drinking party," he said.
Plath said Bassett was going
to tell the officer, “The kid ran that way,” when the officer tackled him.
Lamantia’s history with the
police department also raises issues about the city’s responsibility in
properly supervising the officer, Plath said. Lamantia had signed a
“last-chance agreement” before the incident with Bassett occurred, he said.
A "last-chance
agreement" requires an officer to follow certain conditions, which if
violated normally results in the officer's termination.
The city disciplined Lamantia
in May 2012 for violating police department policies when he drove an intoxicated
man and woman outside city limits and left them on the side of a two-lane
highway at 3 a.m. in January. The discipline included the last-chance
agreement, two weeks’ suspension without pay and other punishment. He returned
to work on May 28, 2012.
Lamantia also had received
four other unrelated reprimands for misconduct and poor job performance in
March 2012 while he was on paid leave.
Both the city and Lamantia
have denied the charges.
Harlan Krogh, a Billings
attorney representing the city, said the case is in the early stages. While
there is dispute over the nature of the contact between Lamantia and Bassett,
Krogh said, Lamantia did respond to a call and was chasing a suspect.
In the city’s response to the
complaint, it said Lamantia climbed over a retaining wall into Bassett’s yard.
Lamantia saw “a silhouette of
a figure approaching him at a short distance. The area was very dark. In
concern for his own safety, Officer Lamantia forcefully pushed at the person
approaching Lamantia to repel him. The individual fell backwards on his back,”
the city said.
Once Lamantia found his
flashlight, he recognized that the person was not the subject he was chasing,
the city said. Bassett shouted at the officer, “He went that way,” and pointed
to the backyard.
After chasing the suspect,
Lamantia returned and contacted Bassett. Lamantia and another officer offered
Bassett medical help but he twice declined, the city said.
The city also said that
Bassett’s summary of disciplinary action taken against Lamantia was not complete
or accurate.
Lamantia’s attorney, Brendon
Rohan of Butte, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
In a response filed in court,
Lamantia denied tackling Bassett.
He also asserted that his
conduct was reasonable, entitling him to qualified immunity and preventing any
claim of an alleged violation of the U.S. Constitution.
