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ST. LOUIS RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Navy veteran accuses Ferguson, police officer of unlawful seizure and arrest

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ST. LOUIS — A Navy veteran from Fairview Heights, Illinois, is suing the city of Ferguson and a police officer, citing alleged assault and retaliation.

Fred Watson filed a complaint July 31 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri Eastern Division against Eddie Boyd III and the city of Ferguson alleging that the defendants violated the Fourth and 14th Amendments to the Constitution due to unlawful seizure to a person.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on Aug. 1, 2012, Boyd demanded irrelevant personal information, unlawfully arrested the plaintiff and initiated charges against him without probable cause. He claims he was accused of various offenses, seized his car and was fined despite a lack of reason. 

As a result, Watson claims he feared for his own safety and suffered depression, loss of employment and loss of faith in society. 

The plaintiff holds Boyd and Ferguson responsible because the defendants allegedly deprived the plaintiff of his right to be free from unreasonable seizure, falsified official reports on the quasi-criminal charges and provided false statements in an attempt to secure a conviction against the plaintiff.

The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment for compensatory damages, attorneys' fees, expenses, costs, and any other relief the Court deems just and appropriate. He is represented by Thomas B. Harvey, Michael John Voss, Blake A. Strode and Nathaniel R. Carroll of ArchCity Defenders in St. Louis.

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri Eastern Division case number 4:17-cv-02187-RLW

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