GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (CN) - When a man who'd just recovered from a seizure told Muskegon, Mich., police he didn't need medical attention, they Tasered him, pepper-sprayed him and smashed his head into cement, he claims in court.
William Swarvar sued Muskegon Charter Township and two of its police officers on Dec. 19 in Federal Court.
Swarvar claims his girlfriend awoke in their apartment on Christmas Ever 2012 to find him having a seizure. She called 911, and the Muskegon County Fire Department and an EMS team arrived. By the time they did, Swarvar says, he "seemed to have recovered" from the seizure and was walking around the apartment somewhat dazed and confused.
Then, he says, the police showed up and tried "to force medical treatment upon him."
He claims the defendant Officer Joseph Luce grabbed him, and then defendant Officer Matthew Anderson Tasered him in the chest for no reason whatsoever.
Anderson proceeded to Taser him three more times and pepper-sprayed him, "for no legal justification whatsoever and without warning," Swarvar says.
Then both cops threw him down, "forcefully slammed his head into the cement porch," and kneed him in the face, he says.
He seeks punitive damages for excessive force, constitutional violations, and failure to train and supervise,
He is represented by Amy DeRouin, with Christopher Trainor & Associates, of White Lake, Mich.
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