Cop thought kid tripped officer, so he struck him with a baton, Ohio suit says
An Ohio man is suing after he says his son was assaulted by an officer who thought he tripped a cop.
The federal lawsuit filed April 10 lists the Cleveland Police Department and several individuals as defendants.
“We were just recently served with this lawsuit. We are reviewing the allegations and will respond accordingly in court,” Tyler Sinclair, spokesperson for the City of Cleveland’s Law Department, told McClatchy News in an email.
On March 12, Cleveland police were called for reports of a disturbance where some juveniles were socializing after school, the lawsuit said.
When officers arrived, they found a female officer on the ground, the civil complaint said. One of the responding officers thought he heard her say that the plaintiff’s son tripped her.
That officer then “targeted” the boy, who actually was not involved and posed no threat, according to the lawsuit.
The officer struck the boy in the head with a baton, the complaint said. Then right after, the female officer told him that “he misheard her” and the boy was not the one who tripped her, according to the lawsuit.
The boy, who is a “dedicated student-athlete with good grades and aspirations to attend college,” had a concussion, “various musculoskeletal injuries” and suffered from a “traumatic brain injury,” the lawsuit said. This impacted his ability to “fully participate in his academics and his athletics,” according to the complaint.
The complaint said he also suffered from mental and emotional damage due to the “traumatic” incident.
The lawsuit is asking for more than $75,000 in damages.
This story was originally published April 16, 2025 at 10:39 AM.
