A Florida man filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against three Jacksonville sheriff’s officers who severely beat him last year after he ran from a traffic stop, alleging they used excessive force that resulted in permanent injuries to his head, an eye and a kidney. Le’Keian Woods, who said he still suffers migraines and eye pain, is suing Jacksonville officers Hunter Sullivan, Trey McCullough and former officer Josue Garriga for their roles in the Sept. 29, 2023, beating that drew national attention and local protests for its severity, the Associated Press reports. The beating left Woods with a ruptured kidney, a swollen face and bloodied lip. A fourth officer, Beau Daigle, is being sued for pointing his gun at Woods, who is seeking unspecified damages.
Attorneys Harry Daniels and Norman Harris accused the officers of targeting Woods, 25, and the two friends he was with because they are Black. They said the officers used the driver’s failure to wear his seat belt as a pretext to pull over their pickup truck at gunpoint after Garriga claimed he’d seen Woods sell cocaine to a man at a gas station, an accusation that was later dropped. While his two friends complied with the officers’ demands to remain in the truck with their hands visible, Woods bolted. “I got kind of scared that he was going to shoot me, that I had a serious situation, so I ran,” said Woods, who stands 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 160 pounds, much smaller than the officers who chased him. Sullivan gave chase, then shot Woods twice with the stun gun and Woods fell on his face. Sullivan, Garriga and McCullough punched, elbowed and kneed him in the head and body as they tried to get him handcuffed. In Florida, kneeing a suspect in the head is considered lethal force, the legal equivalent of shooting someone. It is only to be used if a life is endangered, said Daniels, a former police officer.
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