From [HERE] and [HERE] Jerime Mitchell, a Black man, is suing white Cedar Rapids Officer Lucas Jones and the city over the altercation that left him paralyzed from the neck down on November 1. Court documents filed in Linn County show he is suing for negligence, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and loss of consortium.

The details in the lawsuit paint a much different picture of the interaction between Officer Jones and Mitchell than the one presented by Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden in announcing neither Mitchell nor Jones would face charges in the case. Vander Sanden, in photo below, is white.

Mitchell was wounded and paralyzed from the shooting, causing his car to crash into other vehicles. A dash camera captured video of the encounter but a broken microphone of Officer Jones left little audio on the recording. The police did not explain how or when the microphone became broken. 

The audio is important because the racist suspect cop claims the following; cop said he smelled marijuana after pulling Mitchell over for a burnt out light, later found in the vehicle along with evidence of intent to sell. Jones claimed he got stuck between the open door and truck, and asked Mitchell to stop but he accelerated instead, and Jones feared for his life so he fired three shots at Mitchell’s head. Mitchell, family members and the NAACP disagree with this version of the story. [MORE]

A grand jury ruled Officer Jones' actions were justified and Vander Sanden [racist suspect in photo below] declined to press charges against Mitchell, too.

The lawsuit first questions the reasons Officer Jones stopped Mitchell, arguing "Officer Lucas Jones had no legitimate, articulable reason for initiating the traffic stop." Police have said the stop was for a broken license plate light. However, the lawsuit claims the light was working. It also notes Officer Jones accelerated and ran a stop sign in pursuit of Mitchell from more than a quarter mile away, when a license plate light would not be visible.

The suit argues that Mitchell was never informed of a “true, real and legitimate reason” why he was being pulled over, and that he was never told he was being arrested despite Mitchell repeatedly asking what he had done wrong.

In dash camera video of the incident, after the stop, the white cop orders him out of the vehicle and immediately turns him around to face the car to handcuff him. Mitchell turns to say something to the cop and the cop forcefully pushes him into the car to finish handcuffing him - as his hands are behind his back. Mitchell and the officer get into a struggle. The officer takes him to the ground. At no time does Mitchell attempt to hit or kick the cop. He simply tries to get free. While doing so a police dog runs into the scene and begins to attack Mitchell. Mitchell gets into his car and the officer grabs him and clings on to him- holding onto him as he sits back in the driver seat. Mitchell begins to drive away. The cop could have let go but held on to the car before it begins to move forward. As the car begins to move forward the cop then shoots him multiple times. 

The lawsuit claims Officer Jones never told Mitchell he was being arrested or the reasons he was being detained. It also claims Jones used force against Mitchell without justification or probable cause.

During the scuffle, the lawsuit claims Mitchell repeatedly asked Officer Jones what he did and called for him to stop.

The lawsuit claims Officer Jones told Mitchell "I'm going to kill you, man" while his gun was aimed. At this point, the suit claims, Mitchell attempted to escape to his car. As Mitchell pulled away, the officer fired, and one of the bullets hit Mitchell, causing him to become paralyzed and lose control of the car, crashing into nearby vehicles before being taken into custody.