Suit: Harvey (IL) Police Pepper Sprayed, Assaulted Paralyzed Black Man in wheel chair

From [HERE] Marc Miller claims he was filming police search a car with his cell phone in August 2010 when police demanded the phone—but when he declined to turn it over he was pepper sprayed, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court. Miller, who was paralyzed in a 1991 shooting, claims he noticed police searching the car in a “very aggressive manner” while he was in his wheelchair in 1800 block of West 157th Street in Harvey.

The police grabbed Miller by his hair and threw him from his wheelchair, the suit claims, and police pepper-sprayed him. The police then knelt on Miller’s back and forced his face into the ground, according to the suit.

The two-count suit claims Harvey police used excessive force on Miller, and seeks unspecified punitive damages. A spokesperson for the city of Harvey could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.