VIDEO: Taser use draws excessive-force suit; plaintiff claims blacks often mistreated by Blytheville police

This screenshot from a body camera video shows a Blythville Police Department officer using a taser on a man. An excessive force lawsuit has been filed in the case.
This screenshot from a body camera video shows a Blythville Police Department officer using a taser on a man. An excessive force lawsuit has been filed in the case.

A man whom a Blytheville police officer shot with a Taser during a July 4 arrest has filed a lawsuit claiming the officer used excessive force.

Chardrick Mitchell, 24, of Blytheville claimed officer Steven Sigman became angry at him when Mitchell refused to let Mitchell's former girlfriend get her personal belongings.

In the lawsuit, filed by attorney James Harris of Blytheville, Mitchell contended he was "calm and quiet" and at no time resisted arrest but drew Sigman's fire with the electrical device.

Mitchell claimed Sigman demanded he allow his former girlfriend back into his apartment to pick up clothing she had left behind. The girlfriend contacted police so she could enter Mitchell's apartment.

When Mitchell refused to let the woman in, Sigman "became agitated and angry at Plaintiff Mitchell and threatened he would be charged with 'obstruction,'" the lawsuit said.

Mitchell, who was sitting on the back of a car in his apartment parking lot, got up and walked back to the apartment, the lawsuit said. As he walked away, Sigman drew the Taser, told Mitchell that he was under arrest and shot him in the back.

Video taken from Sigman's body camera and provided by Harris shows the encounter.

In the video, Sigman approaches Mitchell and tells him that he has to let his former girlfriend into the apartment to obtain her possessions.

"You can't stop her from getting her clothes," Sigman says to Mitchell in the video.

At one point in the video, Sigman says, "Look, man, I have other things I need to do."

As Mitchell gets off the back of the car and walks away, Sigman is heard saying, "Turn around. You're under arrest."

Mitchell continues walking and the officer deploys his Taser, striking Mitchell in the back, the video shows.

The lawsuit also names Blytheville Police Chief Ross Thompson and the city of Blytheville.

Mayor James Sanders did not return a telephone message Thursday.

Thompson said Thursday afternoon that he had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment on it. He did confirm Sigman had been employed by the department for "multiple" years.

Sigman shot and killed Terrance Dawson, 30, of Blytheville during a May 18, 2013, altercation in which Dawson held a knife to a woman's throat and threatened to kill her.

Sigman had responded to a 911 call that Dawson was holding a woman hostage on the 400 block of First Street in Blytheville.

Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington of Jonesboro ruled Sept. 6, 2013, that Sigman used justifiable force.

In Mitchell's lawsuit, Harris wrote that the "over-aggressive" behavior shown by Sigman is "an institutionalized practice of using excessive force against African Americans in the Blytheville community."

Mitchell is black; Sigman is white.

State Desk on 07/23/2016

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