NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A Hampton man has filed a federal lawsuit, accusing Norfolk police officers of retaliating against him.
Brandon Williams is suing multiple officers and the City of Norfolk for almost $4.6 million. He claims officers falsely reported a September 2020 car crash after realizing Williams had provided evidence that another officer lied on the stand in a separate case.
The lawsuit shows that Williams was detained in January 2020 by Officer McClanahan on a misdemeanor trespassing charge.
During the initial trial, Williams was convicted on these charges. Williams then appealed the charges and had evidence to prove that Officer McClanahan had lied in court about the incident.
The appeal was heard in Circuit Court and the order to dismiss the charges against Williams was entered on Sept 15, 2020.
A couple of weeks later on Sept. 30, 2020, Williams was involved in a car crash on Shore Drive that left him seriously injured.
The lawsuit alleges the man who was operating the other vehicle involved was driving more than 75 miles an hour and was under the influence of alcohol when he collided with William’s vehicle.
It was later determined the other driver’s blood alcohol level was .30 at the time of the crash, the lawsuit states.
Multiple officers, including Officer McClanahan, were called to the scene of the crash. According to the lawsuit, due to Officer McClanahan’s previous interaction with Williams, the police officers, “made specific comments about Williams, which evidenced their intent to deny Williams his Constitutional rights and equal protection under the law.”‘
Specifically, the lawsuit says the officers on the scenes deprived Williams of his property right to bring a claim for his injuries by minimizing the severity of the crash and by deflecting blame from the other driver.
Williams also says in the lawsuit that the officers made misrepresentations on the crash report saying the other driver was operating his vehicle within the speed limit, had not been drinking and that his car had suffered a steering defect.
The lawsuit also states one of the individuals who was conspiring against Williams was Sergeant M. Mitchell who the lawsuit says, “not only was in a position to approve the illegal conduct, but to ratify it on behalf of the City of Norfolk.”
10 On Your Side is working to learn more about the lawsuit.
The case has been removed from the docket for now since one of the defendants is on military deployment.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.
