AURORA – A 23-year-old woman is suing three Aurora police officers who she says slammed her to the ground and choked her during a 2015 arrest — an arrest recorded on surveillance cameras.
Lawyers for OyZhana Williams filed the civil rights lawsuit in federal court Monday morning accusing the officers of beating her and lying about it in their police reports.
Williams was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer after the arrest but those charges were later dropped.
The lawsuit doesn’t ask for a specific dollar amount and Adam Frank, Williams’ lawyer, said he is asking for “justice for Ms. Williams.”
“What the officers did is already done, it is terrible, it can’t be undone,” he said. “At the same time the city of Aurora still has the opportunity to treat this case correctly.”
Aurora police did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The lawsuit names the three officers — Sgt. Michael Hawkins, Officer Jordan Odneal and officer Jose Ortiz — in their individual capacity.
The incident started in the early morning hours of Dec. 22, 2015, when Williams rushed her boyfriend to a hospital after he was shot, according to the lawsuit.
Police asked to search Williams’ car for evidence related to the shooting and she allowed them to, the lawsuit says.
Later police said they planned to tow the vehicle and demanded Williams’ keys, which she initially refused to give them, the lawsuit says.
Frank said Williams balked at giving the police her keys because they had no legal authority to take them from her.
Source: http://myinforms.com