Alabama Cops Cooked Up Bogus Charges After Arresting Man They Tased While Handcuffed, Lawsuit Says
Video of the incident shows Micah Washington screaming as a Reform, Alabama, police officer deploys a Taser directly into his back.
An Alabama man was tased, arrested, and slapped with bogus charges as he attempted to replace a flat tire, according to a new lawsuit filed last week. According to the suit, the man, Micah Washington, was arrested by a Reform, Alabama, police officer seemingly unprovoked, and tased several times despite complying with the officer's demands.
On December 2, 2023, Washington was driving to his aunt's house in Reform, Alabama, alongside another man, Jacorien Henry. Just a few yards away from Washington's aunt's home, the car he was driving got a flat tire, and Washington and Henry stopped to change the tire, asking Washington's brother—named in the suit as "S.W."—to help them.
A few minutes after the men started changing the tire, Officer Dana Elmore pulled up on the side of the road. According to the suit, Elmore approached the men and demanded they hand over their identification. After handing over their IDs, Elmore allegedly asked Washington to stand by her car.
The suit states that Washington began filming the interaction, leading Elmore to become "irate and more aggressive." Soon after, Elmore "deployed her taser into Mr. Washington's person for several seconds and demanded that he get on the ground," the lawsuit says.
Soon after, S.W. began filming the incident. The video appears to show Elmore walking a compliant, handcuffed Washington to the hood of her car, and deploying a taser directly into his back as he screams in pain. While tasing Washington, Elmore seems to shout at him to "shut the fuck up" multiple times, adding "you want it again?" as Washington sobs.
According to the suit, Elmore then called her husband, a Pickens County, Alabama, sheriff's deputy, to come to the scene. The pair then detained Washington, Henry, and S.W., and took Washington and Henry to a local jail, where the Elmores allegedly conspired to lodge false charges against the two men.
Washington was eventually charged with obstructing governmental operations, resisting arrest, marijuana possession, possessing a gun as an ex-felon, and drug trafficking fentanyl, and his bond was set at more than half a million dollars. So far, Henry has had every charge against him dismissed, and Washington has had the gun possession and drug trafficking charges dismissed. "Any drugs allegedly recovered from Mr. Washington and/or his vehicle were maliciously, intentionally, and purposely planted by Defendant Officers to justify his wrongful arrest," the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit alleges that the officers' actions violated Washington's rights against malicious prosecution and unreasonable search and seizure.
"The officers were placed on paid administrative leave for their actions," reads a January 28 press release from Washington's lawyers. "However, they must be held accountable for the irreparable physical, mental, and emotional injuries they caused. My clients are clear victims of police misconduct, racial bias, and systemic racism. They were targeted for simply existing as African American men."
