63-Y-O Ohio Woman Sues After Officer Body-Slams, Threatens Her During Routine Traffic Stop (Video)
A 63-year-old Huber Heights, Ohio, woman who was pushed to tears after she was body-slammed and threatened with a Taser by a local police officer during a routine traffic stop last Thursday, is now suing the officer and the city for damages and attorney fees in excess of $25,000.
Marcia Laning and her husband filed the lawsuit against Huber Heights police officer Brian M. Doyle, police Chief Robert Schommer and the city in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, according to a report in the Norwalk Reflector.
The shocking incident was captured on dash-cam video and shows officer Doyle pulling Laning over for what he said was a marked lane violation. The video shows Laning pulling into the parking lot where she works and backing her vehicle into a spot.
Doyle is then shown pulling his Taser and threatening to fire it at Laning because she did not immediately comply with his commands. The officer, who is described as a 6-foot-2, 215-pound man, is shown pinning the 5-foot-2, 140-pound Laning twice against his squad car.
The video shows the officer asking Laning to put her hands behind her back. When she says, "Just a minute," Doyle responds, "No, not just a minute. Do it right now or you're going to be Tased."
As she is pinned against the hood of the police vehicle, Laning says, "I didn't do anything," and begins to weep. Doyle responds, "What is your deal?" And later adds, "This lady is freaking nuts."
After placing Laning in his squad car, Doyle tells other officers his knee hurts because he hit it "when I planted her on the hood."
Another officer can be heard asking Doyle, "You body-slammed an old lady?" and he replies, "Yeah, she's like what do you want with me and I'm like, 'You about frickin' ran somebody over."
"This is a grievous, excessive use of force," said Wayne Stephan, Laning's attorney. "The reaction from that officer to a non-threatening traffic offender — which is what he, I guess, presumed her to be at that point in time — was really, really excessive."
Police Chief Schommer declined commenting on the specifics of the lawsuit, but said he considers the lawsuit a complaint and expected it to be investigated.
Doyle filed charges of resisting arrest and failure to comply with the order of a police officer to the traffic violation against Laning, but the two most serious charges were dismissed.