Oakland shooting results in two lawsuits

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 14 (UPI) -- A wrongful death suit against BART in Oakland, Calif., will be merged with one filed by five men claiming they were falsely detained, their attorney says.

John Burris is representing the five friends who were handcuffed and detained for several hours after they saw Oscar Grant III fatally shot on a platform of the city train service. He filed their suit Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco, The Oakland Tribune reported.

Burris also is representing Grant's family in their $50 million suit against BART filed in Almeda County Superior Court.

Jack Bryson, 21, his brother Nigel Bryson, 19, Michael Greer, 22, Carlos Reyes, 21, and Fernando "June" Anicete, 20, said they were falsely arrested and wrongfully searched. None were charged with a crime.

"All of them were arrested and taken to the police department and held unlawfully in handcuffs for four or five hours," Burris said. "The detention was a violation of their constitutional rights."

Police claim they were not arrested.

Grant, 22, of Hayward, was shot Jan. 1 at the Fruitvale station in Oakland by a BART police officer who has been charged with murder.

Officer Johannes Mehserle, 27, intended to use a stun gun on Grant but grabbed his gun by mistake, his attorney said.