The city of Long Beach will pay a cancer patient $300,000 to resolve a complaint alleging police officers used excessive force against him during an incident in 2022. The Long Beach Post reported that Johnny Jackson was involved in an incident with cops due to driving with an expired registration.
In addition to charges of excessive force, Jackson’s October lawsuit accused officers of negligence and violation of his civil rights. The City Council decided on the settlement sum at a closed session meeting on January 16.
Jackson filed a complaint against Long Beach and its police department, claiming he had just left the hospital after surgery for prostate cancer. He stated that the police stopped him on his way home from Staples, where he had gone to get a copy of a doctor’s letter to submit to his employer.
The incident occurred on September 22, 2022 and was filmed on police bodycam. Jackson is spotted outside his Long Beach house, conversing with Long Beach police officers.
Three cops approach Jackson, and an unmarked police car is visible near the plaintiff’s residence. Before Jackson emerges from his car, an officer can be heard asking him to stay in it.
Jackson is heard telling the police that he is unarmed and stays at home. The police, however, informs Jackson that he must remain in the car. Jackson is seen placing some documents on top of the car and raising his hands after the officer instructs him to approach him.
The officer also tells Jackson to place his hands behind his head. However, Jackson returns to the car to try to keep some of the papers from flying away after one of the sheets flies away.
Despite being warned to stop, Jackson assures the officer that the documents are important to him since he recently underwent surgery. An cop is then seen approaching Jackson and seizing his arm, while another colleague takes the plaintiff’s other arm.
Jackson tells the officers to exercise caution as he has just gone under the knife. “You’re doing a lot of talking and not a lot of listening,” an officer is heard telling Jackson. “Stop, listen to me, put your hands behind your back, if you resist, you will get hurt.”
Jackson responds that he will file a lawsuit if he is wounded. Shortly thereafter, officers are seen arresting Jackson with force. According to the Long Beach Post, a cop seems to strike Jackson with his knee three times.
“What is going on with you,” one of the officers is heard asking Jackson. “I told the guy I just had surgery,” Jackson replies.
Jackson is later placed in the back of the unmarked police car. He is also heard asking why he was threatened by one of the officers. “Why can’t you listen to anything we’re saying? Why do you think you’re running the show here?” an officer asks Jackson. “Why did we have to get to this point?”
Jackson then says that though he saw the officers attempting to pull him over, he opted to continue his journey home as he was aware his car tags had expired. “So why are you forcing us to use force on you?” the officer questions, to which Jackson responds, saying that though he tried to hear what was being told him, he was being threatened by an officer while the other officers tried to have a conversation with him simultaneously.
“I just had a four-hour surgery and I’m messed up,” Jackson tells them. “But that threat, officer, wasn’t necessary.”
“What threat?” the officer asks. The officer then tells Jackson that the law allows them to use excessive force if he refuses to comply. “I was going to cooperate with everything officer,” Jackson explains before the officer tells him he’s fortunate they did not discharge a taser, pepper spray, or wrestle him to the ground.
“Think about that next time,” the officer tells him. “You might be going to jail now.”
According to the lawsuit, Jackson was cited for having an invalid car registration and resisting arrest. He reportedly sought emergency medical treatment for injuries incurred during the incident.
Adante Pointer, one of Jackson’s attorneys, accused the officers of treating the plaintiff in an extremely disrespectful manner. According to the Long Beach Post, Pointer stated that his client was attempting to inform officers that he had recently undergone surgery and was healing.
“These officers were hyper-aggressive when all they were dealing with was a supposed traffic violation,” Pointer said. The attorney also said the officers should be criminally charged for their actions.
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