A former U.S. Air Force sergeant is suing the federal government and four federal officers for allegedly tasing him several times and striking him in the head and back as he tried to go through security at a downtown Portland office for an appointment.
William Bayes, 47, was wearing a brace on each knee and using a cane at the time of the alleged December 2012 assault by four Federal Protective Service officers, the federal lawsuit states. Bayes, who suffers from service-related post-traumatic stress disorder, had an appointment that day with the Disabled American Veterans office in the building at Southwest First Avenue and Southwest Main Street, according to the complaint.
The problems started when Bayes arrived at the Disabled Veterans’ second-floor office, which is housed within the regional office of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The following
It states that Bayes was putting items in a plastic tub to be run through the X-ray scanner when one of the security officers reached into Bayes’ pocket without his permission and pulled out a pocketknife.
Told that he could not have the pocketknife in the building, Bayes agreed to take it back out to his truck. As he started retrieving the items he put in the plastic tub, one of the officers yelled at him to get the “weapon” out of the office. Bayes left the building, placed two pocketknives in his truck and returned to the office, according to the complaint.
Bayes again started to put items in a tub for X-ray scanning, including his jacket, hat and the cell phone on his belt. He was about to remove a small flashlight and an empty knife sheath on his belt when one of the officers grabbed his left hand and cuffed his wrist, the lawsuit alleges. The officer told Bayes to turn around, put his hands behind his back and informed him he was under arrest for bringing a weapon onto federal property.
Bayes did not resist and stretched his arms out from his body to show he was not a danger. The officer released his arm, stepped away, and yelled at Bayes to put his hands behind his back, or he would be shot with a stun gun. The officer then deployed the stun gun, but it misfired, the complaint states.
Bayes put his hands behind his back but the officer again fired the stun gun, successfully shocking him in the back. Another officer also pulled out his stun gun and struck Bayes’ neck. As he lay on the ground, the complaint states, officers also struck him in the head and back as they handcuffed him. An officer stunned him again, this time in his left knee which has metal screws inside and was in a brace, causing pain that was “nearly unbearable,” the lawsuit alleges.
Officers took Bayes outside the building. He was taken by ambulance to OHSU Hospital for treatment of his injuries, the lawsuit states. While there, the officers cited him for assault of a federal officer, disorderly conduct and failing to conform with lawful direction – all of which were later dismissed, the complaint states.
For Bayes, who has served in the Middle East and has service-related disabilities in addition to his PTSD, the incident “took an enormous physical and psychological toll, shattering the sense of respect and honor that, until that point, plaintiff felt he received for his service to the country,” the complaint states.
The suit accuses the officers of negligence, assault, battery, false arrest and Fourth Amendment violations. It seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Federal Protective Service, said the department does not comment on pending litigation.
-- Helen Jung