POMONA, Calif. (KNX) – A wheelchair-bound man claimed he was physically abused by Pomona Police officers while they were arresting him.
James Segall-Gutierrez, the attorney representing Joel Garcia, said that on April 28, Garcia was soliciting for donations outside Cardenas Market in the Rio Rancho Mall when a store manager called police.
Garcia told officers he had a right to be there.
At one point, Gutierrez said the officers threw Garcia out of his wheelchair.
“They threw him to the ground. Then they put their knee in his back in a very aggressive manor which fractured his back,” he said.
Video shared by Gutierrez showed an officer and Garcia talking in Spanish. The camera moves to there are other officers present. At one point, an officer steps forward and takes the camera. The camera drops to the ground and shows one officer taking Garcia by the hand as Garcia screams.
A struggle ensues between Garcia and the officer before Garcia is moved away from the camera. He screamed as the officer grabs him. The rest of the footage is covered as Garcia continues to yell. The screen goes to black.
Gutierrez said officers failed to practice the proper way of detaining someone who is wheelchair bound.
“You pick them up, you handcuff them, and then you slowly walk them and put them in the car,” he explained. “(The police) didn’t do any of that.”
Gutierrez went on to say that after Garcia’s arrest, Garcia was taken to a nearby hospital.
“(The hospital) diagnosed him with a fracture in the L7, the back, as well as an open wound in his amputated leg,” he said, adding that Garcia’s wound reopened during the arrest.
Gutierrez told KNX News that one of the officers present at the arrest did apologize to Garcia and told him they weren't going press charges against him.
A claim for damages was filed against the police department.
If denied, Gutierrez said they will proceed forward with a negligence and civil rights lawsuit against the department and city.
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