From [HERE] A Black man said in a lawsuit filed Friday that he was “violently beaten, harassed, taunted, wrongfully arrested and denied medical attention” during a July 2015 encounter with a Houston police officer.

Larry Moore Jr., 33, says the officer used excessive force and violated his constitutional rights after pulling him over for a traffic stop and finding a bag of marijuana. He is seeking compensation from the officer, the police department and the city for his injuries, pain, mental anguish and medical expenses, as well as punitive damages.

Representatives of the Houston Police Department and the city of Houston declined to comment on pending litigation.

However, an official with the Houston Police Officers' Union weighed in."We believe this to be a frivolous lawsuit," said Joe Gamaldi, a union vice president. "Any force used by our officers was justified. This is an attempt of a suspect in possession of two pounds of marijuana to gain notoriety or possible financial benefit by suing our hardworking officers."

Moore was pulled over about 7:30 p.m. July 7, 2015, while driving with a passenger on Mykawa Road in southeast Houston, according to the lawsuit’s statement of facts. Moore pulled into the parking lot of the Fiesta Mart supermarket at 5600 Mykawa.

Officer Kevin Hubenak, a nine-year HPD veteran, wrote in a sworn statement used to charge Moore that he pulled over Moore’s vehicle because it ran a red light and also had a broken taillight.

Moore and his passenger “immediately turned and began looking at officers through the back window while repeatedly shifting their weight around,” Hubenak wrote in the sworn statement. As the officers walked up to the vehicle, “they immediately observed the distinct odor of fresh marijuana emanating from within the vehicle.”

The officer could see into the vehicle as the passenger moved a black trash bag from the center console, according to the sworn statement. Inside that trash bag, the officers later found two clear plastic bags filled with a little more than 2 pounds of marijuana.

Moore and his passenger stepped out of the car when the officers told them to, the lawsuit and the sworn statement both say.

Then the passenger, Michael Brooks, ran away on foot, both documents say. Hubenak’s partner caught and arrested him after a foot chase.

That’s where the accounts diverge.

Hubenak’s sworn statement says Brooks fought with the other officer and ran away after Moore already was handcuffed. It does not discuss any physical contact between Hubenak and Moore.

The lawsuit offers a different account: “After Mr. Brooks ran from the scene, officer Hubenak suddenly and violently body slammed Mr. Moore on his neck, head and face, causing him to go into a brief state of shock, as well as a severe laceration and extreme swelling. Once Mr. Moore regained consciousness, he felt that he had handcuffs on one of his wrists and observed officer Hubenak punching him in the face and body. Officer Hubenak then began kicking Mr. Moore.”

The lawsuit asserts that Hubenak only stopped when bystanders at the Fiesta Mart yelled at the officer to stop hitting Moore.

Then, the account says, Hubenak cuffed Moore’s second wrist and “placed his boot on Mr. Moore (sic) head, so forcefully that it left a dirt boot print in Mr. Moore’s hair.”