KANSAS CITY - A federal lawsuit surfaced against the Centralia Police Department, the City of Centralia and others after a man was allegedly pulled over, assaulted and arrested without probable cause.
The complaint was filed by plaintiff James Robert White of Centralia on May 12 in the U.S. District Court for Western Missouri.
Individual defendants in the case include former Centralia officer Brian Dulany, former Centralia officer Clint Baer and current Centralia police chief Robert Bias.
According to the complaint, Baer was stalking and harassing White's girlfriend.
White and his girlfriend were traveling home after he picked her up from work when he was pulled over by Dulany. White says that Dulany and Baer, who arrived to the scene shortly after, were almost immediately hostile, drawing Tasers and batons despite White only being pulled over for alleged nonfunctional tail lights.
Despite White complying with the officers' commands, he was allegedly ripped from his vehicle after Dulany reached in through the open window to unlock the door. White says he was so violently arrested that he experienced a full thickness tear of his rotator cuff, which required surgical intervention.
The complaint says that Dulany's dash camera footage proved that White's tail lights were in fact functional and White says it was only an excuse for him to be over due to Baer's obsession with his girlfriend.
Baer is currently incarcerated for an unrelated crime of attempting to illicit sex out of a minor.
The defendants are charged with unlawful arrest and excessive force, assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent hiring/retention/supervision.
White is represented by Danieal H. Miller, PC of Columbia.