A man has filed a civil-rights lawsuit against the Tucson Police Department, alleging excessive force and false imprisonment by officers, documents show.
Michael Kurt Hughes filed a lawsuit in Pima County Superior Court, stemming from a May 2015 incident during which he was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault of a police officer, according to court records.
Last week, his lawsuit was moved to federal court.
A judge dismissed the assault charge against Hughes in November, ruling police violated his Fourth Amendment rights when they entered his apartment without cause, according to court documents.
Hughesβ suit against TPD and the city also names two individual officers, one of whom resigned from the department in January after a different incident involving excessive force.
On May 20, 2015, Tucson police responded to a domestic-violence call at Hughesβ residence, where he was reported to be a victim, court records show.
Hughes left his apartment before police arrived, but his girlfriend was subsequently arrested for breaking a window. One of the officers named in the suit, Jacob Fraley β a two-year veteran of the department β stayed at the residence while the city sent an employee to board up the window, according to court documents.
While Fraley was waiting, Hughes returned home and the two spoke outside the residence. Hughesβ girlfriend had told police that he took a kitchen knife when he left, and Fraley asked Hughes to take his hands out of his pockets, assuming thatβs where the knife was, according to the court documents.
Fraley, who was wearing his body camera, told Hughes that he wasnβt under arrest, but he needed to speak to him, at which point Hughes entered his residence and tried to close the door behind him, court records show.
Fraley said in the police report that he followed Hughes inside, believing him to be a danger to himself, and for βofficer safetyβ reasons, according to the documents.
A struggle ensued and Fraley pulled Hughes outside of the residence, at which point both men fell and the body camera stopped recording. After they were on the ground, Fraley struck Hughes in the face several times, court documents show.
Both men stood up, and Fraley called for backup, before tackling Hughes to the ground. Hughes was placed in handcuffs, which he didnβt resist, hog tied and fully restrained, according to court records.
One of the officers who arrived as backup, Arick Martino, saw Hughes βrolling on the ground pulling against his restraints.β The court documents say that Martino saw Hughes kick another officer in the shins, after which he βproceeded to kick (Hughes) in the back.β
As a result of the altercations with Fraley and Martino, Hughes suffered injuries to his face, back, shoulder, neck and ribs, court records show.
He was taken to the Pima County jail after the incident and charged with aggravated assault of a peace officer.
Because he was unable to pay the $10,000 bond, Hughes remained in jail until the case was dismissed six months later, said his attorney, Adam Page.
Hughes is suing for false arrest, excessive force, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution.
βMy position has been that the police officers violated the Constitution,β Page said. βThese cases are important. I have the highest respect for law enforcement and what they do, but itβs not acceptable to violate citizensβ constitutional rights.β
Fraley is still employed, but his position in the department is unclear. Police didnβt respond to a request for comment on his status.
A three-year TPD veteran, Martino resigned in January after he was investigated by internal affairs for an incident involving excessive force, according to documents from the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training board, obtained through a records request.
Last July, Martino responded to a call of a disturbance, during which time he kicked a man who was restrained on the ground, after Martino called the man a βjackass.β
Martino continued to restrain the man by dropping his knees to the suspectβs upper back. Two other officers pushed Martino away from the suspect, according to board documents.
Martino told internal-affairs detectives he used that amount of force because the suspect was attempting to self-mutilate, but interviews with other officers and body-camera footage show no evidence of Martinoβs claims, the documents say.
Investigators determined that because Martino called the man a derogatory name before applying force, that showed the intent to insult or provoke a restrained suspect.
During a March meeting, the board voted to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Martino, who is now facing the loss of his peace-officer certification.
The standards and training board will make a decision on Martinoβs case in upcoming months.
