ST. LOUIS - A St. George police officer was caught on tape threatening to arrest a parked motorist on trumped-up charges, the driver claims in Federal Court. Brett Darrow claims Officer James Kuehnlein Jr. threatened him, saying, "Do you want to go to jail for some (expletive) reason I come up with?"
Darrow says Officer Kuehnlein stopped him while he was legally parked in a commuter parking lot around 2 a.m. on Sept. 7, 2007.
When Darrow asked if he had committed a moving violation, Kuehnlein got into his face and shouted, "You wanna try me tonight? You think you've had a bad night? I will ruin your (expletive) night," the suit states.
Kuehnlein allegedly said, "Do you want to go to jail for some (expletive) reason I come up with? Do you wanna see who knows the law better, me or you? My experience compared to your young ass."
Darrow claims Kuehnlein threatened to tow his car and destroy the video camera inside.
Darrow said a video camera system in his car recorded the entire 18-minute episode. He claims Kuehnlein was dismissed from the St. George Police Department after the incident.
Darrow demands punitive damages in Federal Court. His lawsuit does not state why he had a camera in his car. St. George is 10 miles south of St. Louis.
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