Las Vegas police officers were on the lookout for a suspect in a black Dodge Durango, who allegedly made a threatening hand gestures to them. This led to the officials approaching three Black people in the middle of a Las Vegas mall, and violently detaining two on the spot.
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But here’s the problem: Tim McCoy, the Black man police placed in cuffs, was not in a Dodge Durango, and he denies making any hand gesture to police.
Still, McCoy said his group was met with “irate” officers. “They approached me, very hostile, finger in my face, [saying] ‘What are you doing here?’ ‘What happened back there?’ ‘Why did you make those hand gestures?’” McCoy told KTNV. “I was very confused… I’m like, ‘What hand gestures are you referring to?’”
McCoy, his sister Alissa King and her boyfriend, Kenneth Kennedy had just parked their silver Hyundai Sonata in a nearby parking garage on the evening of Nov. 11, 2023. They planned to grab dinner and walk around the mall, reports said. That’s when the cops approached them and began yelling. Because the group had no clue what the officers were talking about, they started walking away. Then, multiple officers tackled McCoy from behind.
“Within five minutes of us parking our car, my brother’s on the ground,” King said. “This escalated very quickly.” The sister pulled out her phone and started recording.
Bodycam footage shows officials dragging McCoy to the ground and even pulling out some of his dreadlocks. The officers then drew their tasers and threatened to use it against the three individuals. “Y’all are being racist!” yelled King.
“Oh, because he’s a Black man?! And he was just the first one you saw, huh?” Kennedy shouted at the officers, “It could have been me! It could have been anybody!” Marshal Sergio Guzman, one of the arresting officers, denied any racial bias, but now, the group is suing the department big time.
“The officers in the case really make a number of misrepresentations in the report.” said Attorney George Robinson, who’s representing McCoy, King and Kennedy. “They misrepresent what was said, they misrepresent what they did, they even misrepresent what my client had in his pocket at the time. They said that he had a Dodge Durango key in his pocket, and it just wasn’t to be found.”
McCoy was later let go, but Kennedy was arrested for allegedly assaulting an officer and spent a night in jail, according to KTNV. Since then, all charges have been dropped in connection to the incident. Their civil lawsuit against the 11 participating officers alleged excessive force and making a false report, according to the lawsuit.
It’s important to note Marshall Guzman is already facing two separate civil lawsuits alleging excessive force, unlawful detention and assault during traffic stops, KTNV reported. Another participating officer, Marshall Jorge Caloca, was reportedly fired after the lawsuit.
McCoy, who has since cut off the rest of his locs, said the incident has scarred him. “I felt awful, I felt helpless, and I felt like there was nobody there for me or for us,” he said.
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