PHOENIX — The family of a south Phoenix teenager is planning to sue the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department over what they’re calling a case of mistaken identity.
19-year-old Dion Humphrey was hospitalized in January after police shot him with a rubber bullet, thinking he was his brother.
In a notice of complaint filed last week, Dion Humphrey’s family is asking for $11.5 million, saying this whole ordeal left Dion Humphrey scarred both physically and emotionally.
"I was on the floor, with a lot of weight pushed on me," Humphrey said, as he remembers the moment police tried to apprehend him. "I started to tear up and think this might be my last day."
This all played out back in January when Dion’s family says he was walking his younger sisters to school.
Phoenix Police tell us some of their officers were working with ATF to track down Dion’s brother, Kahlil Thornton, a suspect in a violent armed robbery.
When they saw Humphrey walking, police say an ATF agent mistakenly identified him as Thornton. They used a flash bang and when Humphrey started running, they hit him with a rubber bullet.
At the time, Phoenix Police admitted they had the wrong brother.
"It was in fact learned that he was not in fact Kahlil, but he was Dion," said Phoenix Police Sgt. Tommy Thompson earlier this year. "Nevertheless, Dion was taken down to Phoenix Police Headquarters, where he was interviewed on an unrelated investigation."
Phoenix Police haven’t said what that case is about and Humphrey's family, isn’t buying that explanation. They say Dion and Khalil look different. Plus, Humphrey has sickle cell anemia.
"Everyone understands he’s very fragile," says Dion's father, William Humphrey. "Yet, as Dion was walking down the street, they treated him like he was some kind of huge threat."
The whole ordeal landed Humphrey in the hospital for about 3 weeks. His father says Dion’s doctor found scar tissue on his heart after he was hit by the rubber bullet and might need surgery to have it removed.
The $11.5 million the family is asking for would help with medical costs, but his family also wants transparency. They say they have yet to see a copy of a police report or get any background on the officers involved.
"We should all live freely," Dion Humphrey said. "And we shouldn’t have to worry about getting hurt out of nowhere."
12 News has not heard back from Phoenix Police about this notice of claim.
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"The assault by Phoenix police nearly killed Dion," Jarrett Maupin said in his announcement of the notice of claim on Monday.
"The completely innocent black youth was shot in the heart and genitals with rubber bullets, was injured by four white officers who hit him with flash grenades and close range, and then physically assaulted him. Dion was hospitalized and critical for weeks following the attack."
Maupin said Humphrey needs emergency heart surgery and that his physicians blame Phoenix police for the incident.
Humphrey is represented by David W. Dow and Jennifer L. Ghdotti with Dow Law Office and Benjamin Taylor with Taylor & Gomez, LLP.
The notice of claim filing comes as protests in downtown Phoenix and across the Valley over police brutality stretch into a second week.
The protests came after two black men, George Floyd in Minneapolis and Dion Johnson in Phoenix, were killed by police officers on Memorial Day.
