POWDER SPRINGS — Months after a driver says he was Tased twice by Powder Springs police officers during a traffic stop, two separate investigations are still going on.
The city council of Powder Springs, meanwhile, rejected a settlement request for half a million dollars from the driver, Brice Wilson, 23.
According to Wilson’s attorney, he was stopped last June 1 by Powder Springs Police Lt. Vernon Bailey and Sgt. Keith Moore because his license plate light didn’t work. Police say Wilson later resisted arrest after one of the officers said he smelled like marijuana.
He is represented by lawyer James Howard of Tucker.
In a November letter to the city, Howard said the officers put Wilson in a choke hold, groped his crotch and slammed him to the ground, and that Bailey twice used a Taser on Wilson, including once when he was already in handcuffs.
Wilson is a college graduate and Delta Air Lines employee with no prior criminal record, Howard said. The lawyer said that continued criminal prosecution could threaten Wilson’s future job prospects, while the repeated Taser use threatened Wilson’s heart and life due to a congenital heart condition.
In a phone interview, Howard said he did not expect the City Council to immediately approve a settlement.
“This case isn’t really about compensation. It’s about making sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said. “So far, nobody (in Powder Springs government) has indicated the officers did anything wrong.”
Sewell, who became chief on Aug. 1, said he could not discuss the case while an internal affairs investigation is ongoing. The investigation is one of two taking place, because Sewell has asked Cobb County Police to investigate it as well.
Cobb Police Sgt. Dana Pierce said his agency is investigating any wrongdoing, on either the part of the officers or Wilson.
“We’re not going to leave out something the suspect did or didn’t do, and the same thing with the officers,” Pierce said.
Lt. Bailey resigned Aug. 3 after an unrelated incident in which he was accused of taking a pellet gun from a scene where police were looking for suspects after a mobile home fire. Sgt. Moore, who pulled Wilson over, remains on the force.
The city council of Powder Springs, meanwhile, rejected a settlement request for half a million dollars from the driver, Brice Wilson, 23.
According to Wilson’s attorney, he was stopped last June 1 by Powder Springs Police Lt. Vernon Bailey and Sgt. Keith Moore because his license plate light didn’t work. Police say Wilson later resisted arrest after one of the officers said he smelled like marijuana.
He is represented by lawyer James Howard of Tucker.
In a November letter to the city, Howard said the officers put Wilson in a choke hold, groped his crotch and slammed him to the ground, and that Bailey twice used a Taser on Wilson, including once when he was already in handcuffs.
Wilson is a college graduate and Delta Air Lines employee with no prior criminal record, Howard said. The lawyer said that continued criminal prosecution could threaten Wilson’s future job prospects, while the repeated Taser use threatened Wilson’s heart and life due to a congenital heart condition.
In a phone interview, Howard said he did not expect the City Council to immediately approve a settlement.
“This case isn’t really about compensation. It’s about making sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said. “So far, nobody (in Powder Springs government) has indicated the officers did anything wrong.”
Sewell, who became chief on Aug. 1, said he could not discuss the case while an internal affairs investigation is ongoing. The investigation is one of two taking place, because Sewell has asked Cobb County Police to investigate it as well.
Cobb Police Sgt. Dana Pierce said his agency is investigating any wrongdoing, on either the part of the officers or Wilson.
“We’re not going to leave out something the suspect did or didn’t do, and the same thing with the officers,” Pierce said.
Lt. Bailey resigned Aug. 3 after an unrelated incident in which he was accused of taking a pellet gun from a scene where police were looking for suspects after a mobile home fire. Sgt. Moore, who pulled Wilson over, remains on the force.
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