A trip to a gas station to buy cigarettes turned into a night of terror for two Detroit men who say they were ambushed by two rogue police officers — including one who allegedly maced and body-slammed one of them “WWE-style.”
In a lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court, Detroiters D’Marco Craft and Michaele Jackson are suing the City of Detroit and two 5th precinct officers, claiming they were harassed and physically ɑттɑᴄᴋᴇԀ for no reason at an east side gas station in May.
Jackson, a 38-year-old bus driver with the Detroit Department of Transportation who claims to have a longstanding good relationship with police, said he never saw it coming.
“I went down WWE-style. I hit the racks with the Twinkies and the Ho Hos … It was like a nightmare,” Jackson said at a news conference today at his lawyer’s office in Southfield. “I feared for my life.”
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Jackson said he never threatened the officers or made any physical contact with them, but was maced from behind while walking away and then thrown to the ground and beaten. He said he was placed under arrest that night and transported to an emergency room by ambulance for injuries — including bruises and cuts — sustained in the ɑттɑᴄᴋ.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig said he has seen the plaintiffs’ video of the incident and is concerned by it. However, he said, the gas station also has a video of the event and offers more details about what led up to the officer fɪгɪпɡ mace at Jackson.
“When you look at the store video, there is certainly more activity that led up to that,” Craig said. “The suspect did take a swing at the officer. I could not tell if that swing made contact.”
When asked if he was concerned about the officer spraying the mace after Jackson had walked away, Craig said: “That’s a concern, I’ll be candid. But I’m not prepared to make a decision.”
According to Craig, Officer Richard Billingslea — the accused ɑттɑᴄᴋᴇг — has been working a desk job since shortly after the gas station incident and is still getting paid. He said it’s up to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy to decide if Billingslea engaged in any criminal activity that would warrant criminal charges.
Craig said that if Worthy decides not to bring charges, he will address the issue administratively. He said the police will release the gas station video later.
The other officer is Hakeem Patterson, who is accused in the lawsuit of standing by and letting the ɑттɑᴄᴋ happen
Worthy’s office said it has received a warrant request regarding only Billingslea, but that it has not yet made a charging decision.
Watch the video below:
