A lawsuit filed Tuesday morning in federal court accuses the DeSoto Police Department of police brutality during a family disturbance call in 2018.
“From our perspective, we have a family that called police, asked for help and was brutalized as a result, and the story is as simple as that," said David Henderson from Ellwanger Law LLLP, which is representing the family.
Sammie Anderson said she asked someone to call police after two of her two adult sons got into a verbal argument.
Police were called that day to what had been described in 911 calls as a big fight, with up to 10 people and a sledgehammer involved.
Anderson said the argument never became physical.
“I wanted them to come out and be the mediator. The boys never fought, but I wanted them to come out and be there to make sure that they could help diffuse the argument," explained Anderson. “But by the time police got there, there was no argument, it was totally quiet."
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The officer's dash cam video shows Anderson and one of her sons walking toward their home and then turn around when they saw the officer's patrol car lights.
“We were not given the opportunity to even tell them what was going on," claims Anderson. "The first thing they did was draw their weapons.”
She said they did't realize they were tasers and feared the worst.
"Sammie Anderson, as any mother would do, tried to jump in front of what she thought was a gun to protect her sons from being shot," explained Henderson.
Initially, the video from the Aug. 7, 2018 incident was obtained by NBC 5 media partner The Dallas Morning News through a public records request.
The body camera video, synchronized by The Dallas Morning News, shows gaps in the officers' recordings and a lack of video at times as the officers order people to the ground and use a stun gun on one of the people.
One of the most concerning about the events was despite the fact that the Desoto police department has emphasized the importance of officers wearing body cameras and recording events on body cameras, that out of six officers on the scene that night, 04:01 “Only 5 had on body cameras 04:06 “Only one body camera remained turned on during the entrity of the events and not one single camera recorded everything that happened, including Grant Bible being tased.”
"Out of the six officer on the scene that night, only five had on body cameras," claims Henderson. "Only one body camout of six officers on the scene that night, 04:01 “Only 5 had on body cameras 04:06 “Only one body camera remained turned on during the entrity of the events and not one single camera recorded everything that happened, including Grant Bible being tased.”
"Out of the six officers on the scene that night, only five had five had body cameras and only one body camera turned on during the entirety of the events and not one single of officers wearing body cameras and recording events on body cameras, that out of six officers on the scene that night, 04:01 “Only 5 had on body cameras 04:06 “Only one body camera remained turned on during the entrity of the events and not one single camera recorded everything that happened, including Grant Bible being tased.”
"Out of the six officers on the scene that night, only five had on body cameras, only one body camera remained turned on during the entirety of the events and not one single camera recorded everything that happened, including Grant Bible being tased," Henderson said.
“My reaction was that I wouldn’t get justice for simple reason that if the cameras were on they would see I was being tased and where I was being tased," explained Bible, Anderson's son, at the news conference Tuesday morning.
Bible, along with his brother Samuel were arrested and accused of interfering with officers, but charges were later dropped.
“Right now our lawsuit is based on racial profiling, unlawful detention, unlawful arrest, excessive force and inadequate training," said Henderson about the federal civil rights lawsuit.
They said this was their last option, "after trying to reach a resolution by talking to city leaders and officials," said Henderson.
In a statement, the city of DeSoto and the police department said: “It would not be appropriate to comment on an active lawsuit that we are named in. Additionally, we have not yet been formally served with this suit nor have we had the opportunity to adequately review it."
Last year, the city of DeSoto released the full the unedited version captured from the officer's dash camera online.
DeSoto Police Chief Joseph Costa said in 2018 that the officers had done nothing wrong and they were cleared by an internal affairs review.
