Antonio Arnelo Smith, 47, filed a federal suit Friday alleging that Valdosta, Georgia, police officers injured him after body slamming him, and violated his civil rights when they wrongly detained him after identifying him as a suspect in a panhandling case.
“From the moment Mr. Smith was slammed to the ground until he walked away, he cried and screamed in agonizing pain,” reads the lawsuit, which was filed against the officers and the city of Valdosta.
In the police account, the sergeant in question said Smith was “standing in a ‘bladed stance’ and he appeared to be arguing or debating with the patrolman.”
Moments after, the patrolman who initially approached Smith informs the officers at the scene that they detained the wrong man.
Smith’s lawyer, Nathaniel Haugabrook, told the Valdosta Daily Times that officers violated Smith’s civil rights “to be free from an unlawful arrest, unlawful detention and all of the other rights that goes along with us being citizens.”
