A Danville man has filed a lawsuit against the city and one of its police officers, claiming he was wrongfully arrested and falsely charged during an incident last year.
John Kinley of 120 Bold Venture names Officer Pedro Lemos and the city as defendants in the complaint he filed last week in Boyle Circuit Court.
Kinley alleges that on the night of Nov. 11, 2011, he and Regina Cavanaugh were parked outside her apartment in Kinley’s Hummer 2 talking when Lemos pulled in and went to his apartment at the other end of the complex. When was leaving five minutes later, the two men got into a verbal dispute over Kinley’s vehicle blocking Lemos’ path, the lawsuit alleges.
Lemos refused to back up his vehicle so Kinley could move. Lemos then blasted his horn and ordered Kinley out of his vehicle when he was not able to maneuver his SUV in the tight space available, the lawsuit contends.
During the argument, Lemos pointed his finger in Kinley’s face and yelled at him, “I am a police officer. Don’t you yell at me,” the lawsuit states. Kinley states he was not disrespectful or uncooperative with Lemos.
Lemos called for back-up and Kinley tried to walk back to his vehicle but the officer told him to stay put, grabbing his hand. Lemos then told Kinley he was under arrest and going to jail but did not say on what charges. Kinley was released the next morning, charged with menacing and disorderly conduct, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit states the city failed to train its officers “to prevent unlawful harassment and false arrest and imprisonment,” and Lemos deprived Kinley of his constitutional rights. Filed by Louisville attorney Edwin C. Lester, the suit seeks an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages for Kinley’s emotional distress and “embarrassment in his community.”
Neither the city or Lemos has yet responded to the allegations made in the lawsuit.
