An Ohio man has filed a lawsuit asserting that a Fairfax County police officer assaulted him

The Washington Post



June 28, 1989, Wednesday, Final Edition


Suit Says Fairfax Policeman Assaulted Handcuffed Man;


4 Other Officers Also Named as Defendants


BYLINE: Patricia Davis, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: METRO; PAGE B4


LENGTH: 378 words






An Ohio man has filed a lawsuit asserting that a Fairfax County police officer assaulted him while he was handcuffed, causing him to lose consciousness and require 15 stitches.


The suit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, alleged that Officer James M. Blakeney used excessive force against Troy M. Davis after a May 1988 traffic arrest. After the incident, the lawsuit alleged, Davis filed a citizen complaint against the police department, and Blakeney was disciplined after a police department internal affairs investigation.


Police spokesman Warren Carmichael said the department would have no comment while the suit is pending.


The suit follows two recent unrelated incidents in which Fairfax officers were disciplined or fired after striking handcuffed citizens. It also coincides with a Justice Department investigation into possible civil rights violations by Fairfax police.


In addition to Blakeney, the suit named the Fairfax Board of Supervisors and four other officers as defendants. The suit, which alleges the county condoned the use of excessive force by its police officers, seeks a total of $ 250,000 in damages.


The suit said Davis, a day laborer who lives in Ohio, was arrested May 21, 1988, for disregarding a red light. After measuring .14 on a blood-alcohol test -- .10 is the legal amount to be considered intoxicated in Virginia -- Davis used profane language as several officers accompanied him to a cell at the Mount Vernon Police Substation, the lawsuit stated.


Davis alleged that one officer grabbed him by the throat and started choking him while another handcuffed him. The officer slammed Davis' head into a windowsill, causing him to lose consciousness, the suit alleged. Davis was taken to Mount Vernon Hospital, where he received 15 stitches.


According to the suit, the other four officers were present throughout the incident. The suit named officers David A. Russel and Dennis L. Park and said the other two officers remain unidentified.


The suit did not say what role each officer played in the alleged incident. One of the lawsuit's counts singled out Blakeney, asserting he assaulted Davis.


Asked for comment yesterday, John E. Harrison, an attorney for Davis, said "the lawsuit speaks for itself."