(Reuters) – A paraplegic black man accused the Dayton, Ohio Police Department of racial discrimination and brutality after police stopped his car and dragged him out by his hair into the street after hearing the man I couldn’t use my legs.
Over the weekend, Clifford Owensby, 39, said he had filed a complaint through the civil rights advocacy group NAACP with the police department over his arrest on suspicion of a drug-related crime, which took place on April 30th. September.
“They dragged me like a dog, like garbage,” Owensby said at a news conference on Sunday, calling the treatment inhumane and saying he did nothing wrong. “It was total humiliation, it was hate in its purest state.”
On Friday, Dayton police released a statement and body camera video from one of the officers, saying the department had been working to improve “police-community relations” since June 2020, when protests rocked cities across world because of the murder of George Floyd, a black man, by a white policeman in Minneapolis.
In the statement, Dayton police say officers were watching a “supposed drug house” and stopped Owensby after they saw him leave the house in his car.
The video shows Owensby explaining that the 3-year-old boy in the backseat is his son, before handing over his ID, which police said revealed he had been convicted of illegal possession of drugs and weapons. The officer then tells him that he must get out of the car so that he can be checked in by a police sniffer dog.
“I can’t get out of the car, sir, I’m a paraplegic,” says Owensby in the video.
“Well, I’ll help you out,” says the policeman.
“I don’t think that will happen, sir,” replies Owensby, asking to speak to a police supervisor. The men argue, with Owensby saying that “there will be a lawsuit” if the police get their hands on it; he calls someone on his phone.
The policeman is exasperated: “You can cooperate and get out of the car or I can drag you out of the car”
One of the officers pulls Owensby out of the car as he yells for help and the officers handcuff him with him on the ground. He is dragged down the street as his pants fall to his ankles, leaving his underwear on display.
A bag containing $22,450 in cash was found in Owensby’s car, which the sniffer dog indicated was close to illegal drugs, Dayton police said in their statement. Police said they were investigating the episode.
Owensby told reporters he was returning cable TV sets from a property he manages for the cable company. He said the money was a savings, that no drugs or weapons were found in his vehicle, and that he was not charged with any drug-related crimes. Local media said he was accused of resisting arrest.
Dayton police did not respond to questions.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York)
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