Brady Mistic arrived at a Colorado laundromat parking lot in September 2019, thinking he was about to complete a regular chore.
A recent federal lawsuit claims that based on a fresh federal legal action, the other bewildered Mistic with her stun gun, and one law enforcement officer forcefully brought him down. Two police officers from Idaho Springs started issuing orders to Mistic, who was 24 years old at the time, but shortly after stepping out of his vehicle, Mistic was temporarily blinded by the illumination of a stationary police vehicle.
Mistic, a deaf individual, is unable to communicate through American Sign Language and lip-reading. According to a Coloradan witness, Mistic’s behavior, which the police found confusing, led to his confrontation with them. However, Mistic claims that he resisted arrest because there was a different reason behind the officers’ actions.
Without any prior warning, they forcefully apprehended him, thereby infringing upon his legal entitlements, as asserted by the police. Consequently, he has filed a lawsuit against the two officers, the municipality of Idaho Springs, and the governing body of Clear Creek County.
NPR informed attorney Bryant Raymond that it is particularly problematic to use force without any legitimate justification for an individual who is disabled and that they went about using force recklessly and unreasonably.
According to the lawsuit, Mistic was incarcerated for over four months, only to have the accusations against him dismissed in the end.
During the initial encounter, Mistic, who was deaf, resisted arrest, causing one of the officers to break his leg. The Idaho Springs Police Department stated that the two officers involved were unaware of Mistic’s condition.
The department stated that former Idaho Springs Police Chief Christian Malanka examined the issue and determined that the officers’ conduct was suitable.
The arrest of Mistic and its consequences
On September 17, 2019, former Idaho Springs Police Officer Nicholas Hanning and Officer Ellie Summers, who was undergoing training at the time, purportedly observed him disregard a stop sign. Consequently, they trailed Mistic into the parking lot of the laundromat.
Mistic started walking towards the Laundromat, after he resisted arrest at the point where Summers and Hanning, Police officers, tried to place handcuffs on him. He didn’t comply when they ordered him to get back into his car, and instead, he got out of his car.
In the lawsuit filed by Mistic in federal court this month in Colorado, it is stated that he had no knowledge of the officers’ intentions or whether their “presence was relevant to him,” however.
Bryant stated that his client did not oppose the arrest but instead raised his hands when the officers approached him.
The suit claims that they disregarded him, but he attempted to communicate with the officers despite being deaf. After being on the ground, Mistic yelled “no ears.”
As per the lawsuit, both officers failed to make an effort to obtain an ASL interpreter. However, Summers informed the emergency medical personnel summoned to the location that Mistic had hearing impairment.
Mistic then spent over four months in prison and claims he was consistently denied a translator.
The police charged Mistic with assaulting a first responder, obstructing an officer of the peace, and resisting arrest. He also faced charges of possessing forged currency because the police found movie-prop money in his wallet, according to the suit he was wearing.
Instead of dealing with formal charges, the 5th Judicial District’s district attorney’s office allowed Mistic to take part in a diversion program, as stated by the police. As per the lawsuit, the charges were subsequently dismissed.
According to the legal action, Summers, who employed a stun gun on Mistic, remains employed as a member of the Idaho Springs law enforcement. Hanning was subsequently accused of third-degree aggression and dismissed from the police department in an unrelated incident in which he purportedly employed his stun gun on a septuagenarian, as reported by The Associated Press.