GLENDALE, Ariz. — A man is taking action against Glendale PD following a July 2017 incident where his attorney says he was tased 11 times by officers.
12 News obtained the body cam footage from that incident Friday.
It shows police pulling in front of a car in a Motel 6 parking lot. Police said in a release they were conducting intensive patrol because of increased crime in the area of 59th and Myrtle avenues.
Police in the body cam footage say it's a traffic stop because the car didn't use its turn signal when pulling into the Motel 6.
Officers Matt Schneider and Mark Lindsey walked up to a Ford Taurus which had two children and three adults inside, including Johnny Wheatcroft, 37, and his two sons.
"Upon contact, officers discovered that the driver did not have a driver’s license and began to address an observed seat belt violation," Glendale PD said in a release.
Police said they observed Wheatcroft reaching below the seat into a backpack and said Wheatcroft would not identify himself or obey officers instructions to stop reaching under his seat. That's when officers made the decision to pull Wheatcroft from the vehicle, police said.
According to police, Wheatcroft physically resisted officers as they tried to remove him. Police said Wheatcroft argued, yelled and physically resisted officers, so a taser was used.
Body camera footage of the incident shows Wheatcroft being tased as he was tangled in the seatbelt.
Police said during the struggle, another person in the vehicle, Anya Chapman, swung a bag filled with bottled drinks, hitting Officer Lindsey in the head and knocking him unconscious.
As body cam footage shows, officers continued to tase Wheatcroft when he was on the ground. An officer is seen at one point pulling down Wheatcroft's shorts as Wheatcroft lies face down and tasing him in what appears to be the groin area.
Officers said a "usable quantity" of methamphetamine was found in the car. Wheatcroft and Chapman were charged with aggravated assault. Chapman pleaded guilty.
The full statement from the City of Glendale can be seen below:
The city released surveillance video from a building farther away of the incident.
Wheatcroft and Chapman have now filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Glendale.
"Obviously we reviewed the video like everyone else has now, and we decided this is a case appropriate for federal court as a case of excessive force," Wheatcroft and Chapman's attorney Mark Victor said.
The complaint said the family was at the Motel 6 to book a room for some family time. In the complaint, Wheatcroft and Chapman say officers falsely told Wheatcroft if you are a passenger in a vehicle, you need to have identification and that officers were entitled to the identification because they made a traffic stop on the vehicle even though no traffic stop was made.
The complaint alleges the officer never asked Wheatcroft to exit the vehicle before he was tased and removed.
The complaint also alleges Officer Schneider was kicking Wheatcroft in the groin while he was on the ground and that Schneider pulled down Wheatcrofts shorts and tased his testicles and perineum.
"Defendants Schneider, Lindsey, and Fernandez used unlawful, unnecessary, unreasonable and excessive force, which resulted in life-altering injuries to Plaintiff Johnny Wheatcroft and his family," the complaint says.
The complaint says Wheatcroft was in jail for several months on charges of aggravated assault and resisting arrest before the charges ere dismissed.
Wheatcroft and Chapman's complaint alleges six violations against officers and Glendale including excessive force in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, retaliation in violation of the First Amendment, wrongful arrest in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, malicious prosecution in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, civil right violations, and municipal liability (against Glendale).
You can read the full complaint below:
"Anybody who looks at this video I think will have the same reaction," Victor said. "It's, in my opinion, not the kind of conduct we expect here in Arizona, in the United States, or in a civilized country."
Now, the family seeks damages after what Victor said was a life-altering incident.
"He is very distraught about this situation even to this day," Victor said. "It affects him dramatically. It's changed the course of his life. His children, who witnessed this, are suffering incalculable damages here. They are afraid of police officers."