Alonzo Bagley, 43, an unarmed Black man who was fatally shot by a Shreveport police officer earlier this month, filed a lawsuit against the same department in 2018 for reported excessive use of force during an arrest.
According to a lawsuit obtained by CNN, Bagley had a previous encounter with the Shreveport Police Department in 2018. During that time, law enforcement responded to a domestic dispute between Bagley and his wife.
During the arrest, one cop allegedly placed Bagley in handcuffs that were on too tightly. He “maneuvered his hands to the front of his body due to the pain and discomfort of being handcuffed behind his back in the back passenger portion of an SPD patrol car,” the suit noted.
The filing stated that Bagley “was not attempting and did not attempt to escape but only rearranged himself out of the painful position he was in.” One of the responding officers then allegedly opened the door and “delivered forceful and several close-fisted strikes to the head and face,” while another officer did nothing to stop it.
The lawsuit claims that Bagley was handcuffed throughout the reported assault and offered no resistance.
The city responded with allegations that one of the cops opened the car door only to assist Bagley because he was “attempting to strangle or choke himself with the seatbelt.” The city added that the policeman only struck Bagley in the head after Bagley covered it with his arms and stopped the officer from removing the seatbelt and Bagley from the vehicle.
Bagley was charged with “domestic abuse battery and resisting an officer related to the incident,” records showed. The court dismissed the domestic abuse charge, but in February 2018, he pleaded guilty to resisting an officer, court documents revealed.
Twelve months after the alleged assault, Bagley filed a federal lawsuit against the police department. According to the suit, he required “treatment [for] a broken occipital orbital eye-socket bone, contusions to the head and face, and a number of his front upper teeth knocked out.”
On Feb. 3, Bagley was shot and later died after law enforcement responded to a domestic disturbance call at a Shreveport apartment complex. Louisiana State Police stated that Bagley attempted to flee the scene while officers spoke with the complainant. After a short foot pursuit, Officer Alexander Tyler located Bagley and then shot him. He was transported to Ochsner LSU Health in Shreveport, but died due to his injury. Officer Tyler is currently on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
There are currently no available reports on the conclusion of the suit. While the Louisiana State Police continues investigating Bagley’s latest assault and passing, the public still waits for the bodycam footage to be released. Bagley’s family has also filed a wrongful death suit against Officer Tyler, seeking over $10 million in damages and claiming he violated Bagley’s Fourth Amendment rights.