MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Joseph Sushak had a run in with Murfreesboro Police Monday afternoon, and suffered several injuries. He has claimed police brutality. Police say he resisted arrest.
Sushak's run in with police came after an officer-involved chase that ended near his Minerva Drive home. He was outside when officers approached him.
"They just came out from the other side, with their guns pulled. I just freaked out," Sushak explained.
According to Murfreesboro Police officer Kyle Evans, "(Officers) observed a person matching one of the descriptions running from the direct vicinity of the foot pursuit."
"(I) never tried to run, never resisted, just in front of my house. Run from what? I've done nothing. I've done nothing at all," according to Sushak.
Officers came up to Sushak and ordered him to the ground. They admit he complied with the demand.
"However, he refused to place his hands behind his back," Evans said in a news release.
That is when Sushak said police started beating him.
"I heard they were thumping on my head, the back of my head. They bent both of my feet," he said.
A neighbor across the street witnessed the incident and said she did not see Sushak resisting the officers.
"He was looking, like I was looking. I think he might have gotten startled, probably when he saw the police coming," said Cozette Crosby.
Officers eventually put Sushak into a police car and took him to the scene of the scene where officers involved in the pursuit confirmed he was not the suspect.
Police were looking for 28-year-old Bouthay Gee Soupholophakdy, who is from Laos. Sushak is 58-years-old and from Nigeria.
"They first thing I said was, 'Do I look like this guy, as black as I am, do I look like this guy?' They say sorry, you were at the wrong place at the wrong time," Sushak said.
He was treated at a local emergency room for injuries sustained during the incident with officers.
Sushak plans to meet with an attorney Friday and then go to police to make his formal complaint against the officer.
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