The two officers, Cassidy Cantrell and Justin Massie, arrested Haney in April of that year for the warrant and also charged him with obstructing official business.
Haney didn’t resist arrest at any point, the lawsuit says. When he was put in the back of the police van, the officers pulled up on his hands, using excessive force and breaking his wrist, it says. He was taken to the Clark County Jail.
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The next day, it was determined that Haney had a displaced fracture, and he was released from jail. He had surgery on his wrist April several days later.
The lawsuit claims the conduct of the officers was intentional and reckless with a substantial disregard for Haney’s safety.
Haney and his attorneys from Rion, Rion & Rion, L.P.A., Inc. have filed three separate claims of relief: one against the two officers, one against the City of Springfield and one against the Department of Medicaid for $75,000 in punitive damages, $75,000 in compensatory damages and legal fees.
In the claim of relief filed against the City of Springfield, the lawsuit states that the police department had enacted a policy called “Springfield Police Procedure 6.28” that gave procedural details on the “arrest, handcuffing, searches of persons, transportation, & safety.”
Haney’s legal team claims in the lawsuit that the policy doesn’t give any instruction on how to properly handcuff someone and put them into an elevated police van. The preferred method of transportation, according to Procedure 6.28.
“When I see this excessive force on behalf of law enforcement, I always go back to their (training),” said John H. Rion of Rion, Rion and Rion, L.P.A. “Their training — or lack of it — is always the cause of these overreactions.”
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This isn’t the first time Massie has been involved in a lawsuit. In January, a suit was filed against Massie, along with two other Springfield officers, that alleged the three officers violated a man’s civil rights and assaulted him.
That suit alleged facts including: The man in this case was locked out of his house. Officers confirmed he lived there, but they didn’t leave. Instead, they began to search the man’s room for drugs. The situation became hostile, and the man had a seizure, due to epilepsy. When he began to seize, officers tried to pry open his mouth but left him handcuffed and face down on the floor.
“It’s not necessary for that type of ‘cowboy mentality,’” Rion said. “Systemically there’s a flaw because of lack of training.”
City of Springfield Law Director Jerry Strozdas said he is still reviewing the case with the officers involved and declined to comment.
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