Video Corroborates Suit’s Claim that ‘w/o Explanation or Justification’ 5 White Garfield Heights Cops Brutally Attacked a Black Man & Lied to Falsely Arrest, Indict & Detain Him for 6 Months

From [HERE] The City of Garfield Heights and the Garfield Heights Police Department are facing an excessive use-of-force lawsuit after the Jan. 23 arrest of 28-year-old Kenta Settles.

According to Garfield Heights police bodycam video obtained by News 5, Settles, an unarmed black man, was punched, kicked and stunned with a Taser while he was on the ground, as police attempted to handcuff him.

Jeremy Tor, the attorney representing Mr. Settles, Partner with Spangenberg, Shibley & Liber LLP, said officers taunted and used profanity on Settles as he laid on the ground handcuffed.

Tor said Settles, the father of three boys, suffers from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD and is ADHD, for which he takes medication. The complaint explains as follows:

On January 23, Kenta took the public bus to Garfield Heights. His plan was to pick up a refill of his medications from CVS and then head over to his brother's house to get hair clippers because the next day was Kenta's two-year-old son's birthday, and Kenta wanted to give him a birthday haircut.

The CVS appeared closed except for the pharmacy drive-thru lane, so Kenta stood in line there. He realized he looked out of place, so he tried to let the driver of the car ahead know he was waiting to get his medication.

The driver responded by indicating he had a gun and laid on his horn. Kenta got startled and walked away.

He was walking along the public sidewalk on Turney Avenue when the following incident, captured on multiple body cameras, occurred:

Defendant Michael Malak, a Garfield Heights police officer, barked orders at Kenta: "Come here. Hey. Police. You. Raise hands. Right here. You. Come here."

Kenta stopped walking and showed his empty hands. Malak approached and, without explanation and without reasonable justification, grabbed Kenta's left arm and escorted him to the hood of a police car.

Defendant Robert Pitts, another Garfield Heights police officer, without reasonable justification, grabbed Kenta's right arm. Pitts and Malak shoved Kenta against the hood of the car and then twisted his wrists and arms behind his back. Pitts and Malak pushed and pulled Kenta and then tackled him to the ice-and-snow covered ground.

Once Kenta was on the ground, Pitts immediately straddled and punched his head Malak drew his Taser and shot it in dart mode at Kenta's back while Kenta was curled up in a fetal position on the ground. Pitts drew his Taser, too, and shot it in dart mode at Kenta's shoulder. Kenta's body reacted to the electrocution: He rolled onto his back, and his right leg convulsed. Malak and Pitts got back on top of Kenta. Pitts grabbed Kenta's jaw and applied his Taser in drive-stun mode to Kenta's right shoulder; Malak drive-stunned Kenta at the same time.

Malak punched Kenta in the face; Kenta put his hand up to protect his face. By now, Defendant Todd Vargo, a Lieutenant with the Garfield Heights Police Department, was lying on top of Kenta's legs. With Kenta on the ground and Malak and Vargo piled on top of him, Pitts stood up, cocked his right leg back, and dropped his right knee into Kenta's upper body

Pitts then bent over and punched Kenta three times in the head and face. Defendant William Gall, a Sergeant with the Garfield Heights Police Department, arrived as Pitts was kneeing and punching Kenta. Gall deployed his Taser in drive-stun mode to Kenta's back.

The officers cuffed Kenta's hands behind his back. With Kenta now handcuffed in a face-down prone position, Pitts, Vargo, and Defendant Brian Regovich, another Garfield Heights police officer, applied compressive downward force onto Kenta's shoulders, arms, back, and legs--for nearly two full minutes.

With Kenta now handcuffed in a face-down prone position, Pitts, Vargo, and Defendant Brian Regovich, another Garfield Heights police officer, applied compressive downward force onto Kenta's shoulders, arms, back, and legs--for nearly two full minutes.

Defendant Rob Jarzembak, another Garfield Heights police officer, stood by and watched, as did Malak and Gall. During and after the ordeal, the officers called Kenta a "motherfucker," a "fucking asshole," and a "fucking piece of shit." When Kenta began crying, Malak called him a "baby."

When Kenta started talking (after he was cuffed and while pinned and pressed against the ground), Pitts yelled at him: "Shut the fuck up! You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law."

The officers eventually stood Kenta up. He asked the officers: "Was that fair?" At no point during the incident did Kenta possess or produce any weapon, verbally or physically threaten anyone, or otherwise pose any threat, real or perceived, to anyone. Nor did he act in any manner justifying the uses of force at issue.

Defendants' uses of force violated Kenta's clearly established constitutional rights. All law enforcement officers would know that Defendants' uses of forces under the totality of the circumstances were objectively unreasonable, excessive, unjustified, outrageous and in violation of Kenta's clearly established constitutional rights.

Kenta sustained numerous physical injuries during the incident, including a chipped tooth, rotator cuff injury, and laceration near his right eye. The officers falsely arrested Kenta, knowingly and wrongly accusing him of assaulting Malak during the incident and of obstructing official business. As a result of the false accusations, Kenta was charged, indicted, and jailed until finally released on June 8, 2020.

Tor said police bodycam video clearly shows officer Malak didn't ask Settles any questions; who he was, where he was going, and didn't explain why Settles was being detained.

"This is another unfortunate example of police brutality against members of our community," Tor said.

“From the get-go, the officers approached him with hostility and in a very aggressive manner.” "He was simply there to pick-up his psychiatric medication and another gentleman was also there to pick-up medication just misperceived the situation and he got concerned and he called the police."

“This was a perfect illustration of how things could have gone so much better if the police officer approached Kenta with the appropriate level of respect that I think he and everyone in our community deserves.”

"Rather than yell and bark orders at Kenta and haul him to the front of a police car without explanation, they could have approached him calmly, talked to him like a human being and said, hey how’s it going, what’s going on, everything okay?”

Settles was charged with felonious assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, and was held in jail on a $250,000 bond. But Tor said last week Settles was finally released from jail after a judge issued him a personal bond on June 8.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley's office told News 5 when the bodycam video of the arrest was shown to him on June 10, he called the attorney representing Mr. Settles and informed him the charges against Mr. Settles would be dismissed and the entire matter would be re-presented to the grand jury at a later date.

The case against Mr. Settles was officially dismissed on June 12. The prosecutor's office would not explain why, and wouldn't comment further.

Garfield Police Chief Robert Byrne stood behind the effort made by his officers during the arrest and said his internal investigation determined officers acted properly.

Byrne said his officers only used physical force when Settles refused to cooperate and started to resist and use physical force on them.