YOUNGSTOWN - Two
women who claim two city police officers brutally beat them during a traffic
stop have taken their lawsuit against the city and officers to federal court.
Desiree Johnson of
West Princeton Avenue and Doretha Weston of Miller Street filed the lawsuit in
U.S. Northern District Court Wednesday that claims Lt. Kevin Mercer and
Patrolman Patrick Mulligan attacked them during a traffic stop May 30, 2011.
The city also is being sued for its "policies, practices and systematic
deficiencies."
The case has been
assigned to Judge David Dowd. The women had filed suit in Mahoning County
Common Pleas Court but removed that case to file in federal court.
The lawsuit alleges
the two officers harbored animosity toward Johnson because she had filed a
complaint and lawsuit against the two officers for drawing their gun on
Johnson's son in July 2009. The earlier lawsuit has not been resolved,
according to court records.
According to the
recent lawsuit, Mercer and Mulligan followed the two women in an unmarked
vehicle and the women pulled over as soon as the officers activated their
emergency lights.
The women claim
Mercer grabbed Weston's head with one hand and pulled her left arm behind her
back after he ordered her out of the car. The lawsuit claims Mercer slammed
Weston against the car several times, then picked her up and slammed her
against the ground three times.
Meanwhile, Johnson,
still inside the vehicle, called 911. Mulligan, the lawsuit claims, ordered her
to give him her cell phone. Mulligan then attempted to open the door and
grabbed Johnson's wig from her head in an attempt to force her out of the car,
the lawsuit states.
Then, according to
the suit, Mulligan punched Johnson in the face several times and forced her out
of the vehicle, kneed her in the stomach, jumped on top of her and punched her
repeatedly.
The women are asking
for more than $25,000 citing deprivation of their constitutional rights,
infliction of emotional distress, assault and battery, false arrest and
malicious prosecution.
Weston was charged
with resisting arrest, failing to use a turn signal, obstructing justice and
driving without a valid license. Johnson was charged with resisting arrest,
assaulting a police officer and obstructing justice.
All charges except
obstruction of justice were dismissed a week later. On March 15 of this year,
however, Mercer and Mulligan re-filed charges of resisting arrest and driving
under suspension against Weston and assaulting police officers against Johnson
in Youngstown Municipal Court. The criminal cases are ongoing and are scheduled
for trial June 6.