FORT WORTH -- An Alabama man has filed a federal lawsuit against two Watauga police officers, alleging that he was beaten in the head with handcuffs and stunned repeatedly with a Taser after his family had called 911 seeking medical treatment for him.
The lawsuit alleges that Brian Reed's mother and wife were only seeking an ambulance to take Reed to a psychiatric hospital when they called 911 on July 5, but that the two officers who answered the call brutally attacked Reed, leaving him with a severe concussion, a strained spinal column from blunt force trauma and a cut about his right eye needing seven stitches.The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Fort Worth federal court, names as defendants officers S. Nance and H. Tank-Holland. Sgt. Jason Babcock, a Watauga police spokesman, said Thursday, however, that Nance was on light duty undergoing treatment for cancer when the incident occurred and was not involved. He declined Thursday to name the second officer involved.Babcock said because of pending litigation, he could not discuss details of the incident. He did say, however, that no complaint was filed with the Police Department, no internal investigation conducted and no discipline issued to the officers involved."From all accounts that we had and have to this day, there's nothing to indicate that an internal investigation was necessary," Babcock said. "Obviously, that's because their account and our account are very different, to say the least. There is a drastic difference in their story of what occurred and what the city knows occurred."According to the lawsuit, Reed and his family had been staying at his mother's Watauga home while his young daughter received treatment locally for a rare chromosomal disorder known as cat's cry syndrome.Reed, who, according to the lawsuit, has some behavioral disorders from a severe blow to the head he received a couple of years ago, was suffering from severe depression due to his daughter's poor prognosis. He had just been discharged from Millwood Hospital in Arlington that day and was heavily medicated when he began walking around his mother's neighborhood, talking to residents in a nonsensical and incoherent manner, the lawsuit states.Fearing he was still sick, Reed's mother and wife decided to have him readmitted to a psychiatric hospital.The mother called 911 to request an ambulance, but told dispatchers that her son was not acting violent and that he was not threatening others, the lawsuit states.When the two officers arrived, Reed, his mother, and his wife were standing in the home's driveway.Tank-Holland then began talking to Reed while Rachel Reed explained to the second officer about her husband's mental problems and the head injury he had suffered two years previously, according to the lawsuit.Reed told Tank-Holland that he wanted to go inside, lie down in bed and go to the hospital the following day. After the officer acknowledged that would be OK, Reed began walking toward the backyard where he unleashed a six-month-old puppy. Reed's attorney, Geoff Henley said the puppy, named Jake, was a nonaggressive pit bull mix.The officers, who had followed, then "attacked Brian without, cause, reason or provocation," the lawsuit states.Scared, Reed had tried to run around the officers when the second officer pulled out his baton and took two swings at Reed's face and head, according to the lawsuit. The officers then tackled Reed, shoving his face into the ground, the lawsuit states.The second officer then punched Reed on the side of the face, according to the lawsuit, and when Reed "moved slightly" as the second officer tried to handcuff him, that officer wrapped his handcuffs around his right hand and continued punching Reed, the lawsuit alleged.At the second officer's request, Tank-Holland then repeatedly stunned Reed with her Taser, the lawsuit statesDeanna Boyd, 817-390-7655Twitter: @deannaboydHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
