In a heartbreaking development, Tyron McAlpin, a man with cerebral palsy who is deaf and crippled, has sued the City of Phoenix and three of its police officers for $3.5 million. A violent encounter with Phoenix Police Officers Benjamin Harris and Kyle Sue is described in the notice of claim, which was served last Wednesday. It also mentions Officer Jorge Acosta’s subsequent filing of fake police reports. After responding to a disturbance complaint from a Circle K, the officers allegedly attacked McAlpin at a neighboring Dollar Tree after hearing accusations from a white male, according to Fox10 Phoenix.
Video was taken of the incident that happened on August 19 near Indian School Road and 12th Street. The officers may be seen on camera punching McAlpin and tasering him. Jesse M. Showalter, McAlpin’s lawyer, has filed a claim alleging that McAlpin was wrongfully charged with aggravated assault and mobile phone theft. “After receiving a report of a white male acting aggressively and refusing to leave the Circle K, Phoenix Police Officers Benjamin Harris and Kyle Sue arrived on the scene. “Officers Harris and Sue left the Circle K and attacked, beat, and tased Tyron McAlpin, a deaf African American man with cerebral palsy, based on false allegations from the white male who was the subject of the call,” Showalter wrote in a document acquired by Fox10 Phoenix. Before the Maricopa County Attorney dropped a felony aggravated assault prosecution against McAlpin, he was imprisoned for 24 days.
Earlier, Michael Sullivan, the interim police chief for Phoenix, recognized the worries expressed by the widely shared video and promised that “the community we will get answers to those questions.” In a statement that Fox10 Phoenix was able to receive, Sullivan said, “I recognize the video is disturbing and raises a lot of questions.” However, according to 12 News, McAlpin’s lawyers have told the City of Phoenix that their client is willing to pay the $3.5 million quoted to settle the charges.
This case takes place in the midst of a larger discussion over police behavior and how law enforcement organizations handle people with disabilities. After the event, the Phoenix Police Department’s Professional Standard Bureau opened an internal inquiry.
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