HATTIESBURG, Miss., April 17 (UPI) -- A partially paralyzed man says he needed extensive medical care after a Mississippi deputy pulled him from his vehicle and slammed his face on the pavement.
Brady Lewis made the charges in a suit against Marion County Sheriff Berkley Hall and his alleged assailant, Deputy Josh Messer, in federal court in Hattiesburg, Courthouse News Service reported Tuesday.
The suit claims Messer pulled Lewis out of his vehicle during a traffic stop and slammed his face into the pavement, breaking the 66-year-old man's nose, face and jaw.
Lewis' left arm and leg are partially paralyzed. The suit alleges the deputy thought Lewis was not getting out of his car fast enough.
The suit claims that Lewis, who is 5-foot-9 and 120 pounds, "posed no threat" to the deputy, and that the amount of force used by Messer "was unlawful, unnecessary, unjustifiable and excessive."
Lewis said that as a result of the encounter, he was hospitalized for three weeks, fed through a tube and had to go to an assisted living facility.
He is seeking punitive damages for excessive force, false arrest, gross negligence, assault and battery and constitutional violations.
