Covington police officers used brutality during gratuitous traffic stops, lawsuits allege

In the latest additions to the heap of legal woes for the Covington Police Department -- criticized in the recent past as a small-town force run amok -- two more motorists have filed lawsuits against the city claiming they were roughed up by officers during gratuitous traffic stops. One of the two, James A. Walker, claims he was picked up by his collar and slammed against his truck, then eventually let go without a ticket. The other, Joshua Kentzel, alleges he was tackled by an officer, choked to the point of unconsciousness then put in a cage and heckled.
Kentzel's June 2011 arrest, detailed for the first time in the lawsuit he filed in U.S. District Court, has already led to a purge of the city's police force.
In December, Sgt. Eric Driscoll pleaded guilty to simple battery for choking Kentzel, accepted a six-month suspended jail sentence and resigned from the department. Chief Richard Palmisano was placed on administrative leave for months as city officials considered his role in the ordeal. He was later reinstated.
The two men's lawsuits join three others on federal court dockets filed against the city's Police Department and its officers, all involving allegations of excessive force. One man claims he was beaten and repeatedly shocked with a stun gun by Driscoll and other officers.
Another alleges officer Kenneth Stevens hit him in the chest, picked him up by the arm and threw him off his own front porch. Stevens resigned and is awaiting trial on a battery charge. His supervisor, fired in the dust-up then reinstated under court order, has also sued the city.
Those pending suits are now joined by the two filed this month.
Kentzel's details the evening of June 28, 2011, when he left Tugendhafts Tavern in downtown Covington to drive eight blocks home. At the corner of 24th Avenue and Van Buren Street, a half-block from his house, Driscoll began following him.
Kentzel claims he didn't see the officer behind him. As he got out of his car and walked toward his front door, Driscoll reportedly ordered him not to go inside. Kentzel dropped his keys and raised his hands, according to his lawsuit. Though he was unarmed and neither violent nor aggressive, he wrote, Driscoll "charged him, bear-hugged him and violently threw him to the ground."
Kentzel was "gurgling and gasping for air" as Driscoll had him in a choke hold. He "eventually lost consciousness," according to the lawsuit. Driscoll, joined by another officer, put Kentzel in the back of Driscoll's cruiser. He was left there for an hour "during which time he was experiencing panic and anxiety attacks."
Kentzel overheard the officers ponder what they could charge him with. Eventually, they decided on resisting an officer, flight from an officer and reckless operation of a vehicle -- all dropped later by the district attorney's office.
Kentzel spent most of that night at the Covington Police Department, where he was "kept in the cage" and "mocked, ridiculed, laughed at, embarrassed and humiliated by Driscoll and fellow officers." Driscoll told Kentzel that he got when he deserves for running "from a Marine," the lawsuit says.
He and Walker are both suing for pain and suffering, mental anguish, medical expenses, loss of enjoyment of life and humiliation. Both note that the officers' "vicious propensities were notorious and known to Palmisano." The city and the department are liable for their conduct, the lawsuit says, because failing to properly rein them in constitutes "reckless or callous indifference to the federally protected rights" of citizens.
Walker alleges he was driving home from work on the afternoon of Oct. 7, 2011. In heavy traffic on Tyler Street, he noticed a police car behind him with its blue lights whirling. He pulled over along with the cars behind him, expecting the police car to pass.
Instead, it stopped Walker's truck.
Walker, who has no criminal record, got out of his truck to ask the officer what was wrong, according to the lawsuit. The unnamed police officer approached with his hand on his gun.
"Suddenly, unexpectedly and without provocation or warning, the officer grabbed [Walker] by the back of his neck or collar and slammed him against the truck, grabbed [Walker's] right arm and pulled [Walker] behind his truck," the lawsuit reads. He was handcuffed.
Several other officers arrived. Eventually, the handcuffs were removed and Walker was "told to move on." He asked what he'd done.
"Shut up or you will go to jail," the initial officer replied. A few weeks later, Walker sought medical attention for his injured shoulder.
City officials have declined to comment on the latest suits.