Suit says Dallas Police officers violated Black man's rights with neck hold

The family of a southeast Dallas man has sued the city of Dallas and two police officers, claiming his rights were violated when he was put in a neck hold that was later banned by the department. According to the federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, Marcus Runnels, 25, was with friends on Alabama Avenue on May 8, when two officers stopped them. The suit alleges that one of the officers put Mr. Runnels in a lateral vascular neck restraint unprovoked, causing him to lose consciousness and hit his head. The accused officers, Edward Saenz and Stanton Chambers, denied using the neck restraint or excessive force on him, according to a criminal investigation that cleared the officers. The Dallas Police Department banned the neck restraint in July after months of criticism following the death of Allen Simpson. Mr. Simpson never regained consciousness after being put in the hold during a police chase in December 2003. His family also sued and is in mediation with the city, said Jim Skinner, an attorney with the Pezzulli Kinser law firm, which also represents Mr. Runnels. The city attorney's office said it had not had a chance to review Mr. Runnels' lawsuit. A Dallas County grand jury declined to indict the officers, who work in the Southwest Patrol Division. A separate police internal affairs investigation was inconclusive.The officers told investigators that they had been working hard to rid Alabama Avenue of drug dealers and did not recall Mr. Runnels. But computer records showed that they ran a warrant check on him. Mr. Runnels told investigators that the officers told him to open his mouth and that he didn't comply. The suit argues that the officers should have realized that Mr. Runnels was "mentally disabled." [more]

Comments

[molly hernandez]

It's not as if Mr Runnels has never been in trouble with the law before. It is amazing how he's tough enough to evade arrest, etc. but now cry about being put in a neck hold. Mr. Runnels crediability is slim with me, and I believe the officers were just doing their JOB!