Milwaukee Bucks' Sterling Brown to sue police over arrest
By admin - 2018-05-22 19:39:49

Video has surfaced of Milwaukee police officers using a stun gun on Bucks rookie guard Sterling Brown and his attorney says he plans to sue the department for unnecessary use of force.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Brown’s attorney Mark Thomsen announced plans for the lawsuit on Tuesday as body-camera footage of the January arrest was scheduled to be released to the public Wednesday. Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett said he’s concerned about possible public backlash over the officers’ conduct.

“It was a disturbing video when I saw it, and I know that the police chief feels the same way,” Barrett said Tuesday. “And I don’t know exactly what actions his department is going to take, but it is disconcerting to see some of the actions in that video.”

One anonymous source told the newspaper that video of the arrest seems to show that the stun gun was used unnecessarily.

“This could be bad,” the source said. “The player doesn’t appear to be provocative at all.”

Brown’s arrest around 2 a.m. Jan. 26 initially began as questioning over a parking violation when the officers saw a vehicle parked across two handicap spaces. Brown was ultimately arrested  on a possible misdemeanor charge of resisting or obstructing an officer, but after an internal review that included viewing the body camera footage, police officials decided not to charge him.

The officers involved in the incident said in their initial report that they spoke with the then-22-year-old Brown about the situation and “an electronic control device was deployed” during the encounter.  Both officers are reportedly now the subject of an internal investigation.