Black School Prinicipal Suing Springfield Police For Alleged Beating

Says Cops Dragged Him Through Car Window - Door was UNLOCKED

A school principal who says he was beaten by at least four city police officers while having a diabetic attack is suing the officers, accusing them of dragging him through his car window and calling him a drug user before getting him medical help. Douglas Greer, principal of the Robert M. Hughes Academy Charter School in Springfield, is seeking an unspecified amount of money in the lawsuit he filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Springfield. The lawsuit says Greer pulled his BMW into a convenience store parking lot on Nov. 4 when he started feeling disoriented, a symptom of the onset of a diabetic attack. A store clerk called the police after noticing Greer's car had been parked for awhile. When the police arrived, they broke the car windows and pulled Greer out through the shattered passenger's side window, even though his car doors were unlocked, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit goes on to describe how officers Jeffrey Asher, James Kervick, James Shewchuck and James Moriarty, kicked, choked and beat Greer. The officers have denied Greer's accusations. The lawsuit says Greer repeatedly told the officers he was diabetic and said he needed juice or sugar to stave off his diabetic attack. "The police defendants nonetheless continued to beat and kick him and repeatedly yell that he was on drugs," the lawsuit says. Greer says the police hit him with what he believed to be nightsticks and a flashlight, then handcuffed him behind his back and shackled his legs. [more]