Downtown Resident Sues City of Cleveland for Unconstitutional Arrest
Mehdi Mollahasani Arrested, Jailed, and Prosecuted while Picking up his Groceries After Black Lives Matter Demonstration in May 2020
CLEVELAND, Ohio (January 20, 2021) – A Downtown Cleveland resident who went outside his apartment to pick up groceries the day after Black Lives Matter protests is suing the City of Cleveland for wrongful arrest, detention, and prosecution for allegedly violating a city curfew instituted to shut down the protests.
Mehdi Mollahasani, a 38-year-old man of Middle Eastern descent, walked outside on May 31, 2020, to pick up his Instacart order and was arrested by Cleveland Police officers for charges related to the curfew, despite being able to show proof of downtown residency. Instacart is a grocery-store-to-home delivery service.
On May 30, 2020, the City of Cleveland instituted a curfew for the downtown area in an effort to quell protests stemming from the police murder of George Floyd and other police violence. Mollahasani, who is Iranian-Canadian with dual citizenship, did not take part in the day’s protests, instead, he resided in the downtown Cleveland area.
Mollahasani left his apartment on May 31, 2020, to pick up his grocery delivery. On the street, the defendant Cleveland Division of Police officers confronted Mollahasani, harassed him, and baselessly accused him of looting. Mollahasani showed his proof of downtown Cleveland residency along with his New York identification. In spite of his proof of his legal presence in the area, and his compliance with every order of the officers, Cleveland Division of Police officers arrested him and caused him to be incarcerated in the Cuyahoga County Jail for days during the novel Coronavirus pandemic. He was later charged criminally and forced to defend himself in court. All charges against him were dismissed.
“I could not believe I was being arrested for picking up groceries,” Mollahasani said. “It felt like a police state, where the security forces grab people off the streets for no reason. Even worse, all this was happening in the middle of a pandemic.”
Today, Mollahasani filed a federal civil rights lawsuit to seek accountability for his unconstitutional arrest, detention, and prosecution. He is represented by attorneys at Friedman, Gilbert + Gerhardstein, and Friedman & Nemecek.
“The defendant police officers abused their power in the most unconscionable way when they arrested Mehdi off the street and threw him into the notorious Cuyahoga County Jail for days for absolutely no reason,” said Sarah Gelsomino, partner at Friedman, Gilbert + Gerhardstein. “The City encouraged their police officers to sweep people off the streets and into the jail in order to prevent additional protest, and they did so without any concern for civilians, like Mehdi, who were living legally within the curfew zone. The City and the defendant officers must account for this blatantly unconstitutional and unreasonable behavior of their officers.”
“It is unacceptable for police officers who are sworn to protect the public to engage in such flagrant unconstitutional conduct,” said Eric Long, partner at Friedman and Nemecek. “Jailing a person, who provided information to verify his downtown residence and his grocery order, simply because he “looked like a rioter” must not be tolerated. We look forward to using this process to shine a light on the actions of the officers and officials involved and to hold them accountable.”