Cody Jones settles case against City of Elyria for $325,000
Background
On April 23, 2016, Cody Jones was lawfully present in a parking lot. An employee at the nearby Subway called police because she observed Jones picking things off the ground and eating something. She asked the police to check on him because this seemed like strange behavior. Elyria officer Weber went to to the parking lot, where he saw Jones talking with two women. Immediately, Weber ordered Jones to his approach his patrol car, take his hands out of his pockets, and put them up. Jones complied. Weber had no reason to believe Jones was armed, or that he was engaged in illegal activity. Regardless, Weber slammed Jones against the police car and patted him down. Elyria officers Chalkley and Mitchell arrived on scene and were present while Miller unlawfully seized Jones. These officers tackled Jones to the ground, where he was handcuffed and tazed five times. He was restrained on the ground in a prone position while the officers applied pressure to his body, making it difficult for him to breath. They put Jones into a hobbling device and a spit hood, although he never spit or threatened to spit at anyone. To cover up their wrongdoing, these officers then initiated felony criminal charges for allegedly assaulting the officers, obstructing official business, and resisting arrest. He was acquitted of all charges on September 5, 2017.
Approach & Resolution
Marcus Sidoti filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the individual police officers for excessive force, false arrest, malicious prosecution, and related charges. He also sued the City of Elyria for failure to train and supervise the officers, for maintaining unconstitutional customs, policies, and practices, and for ratifying the illegal actions of its officers.
After Jones won a decisive victory at the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Elyria agreed to resolve the case for $325,000.