ST. CHARLES -- James W. Setchfield filed a federal complaint on July 27 in St. Louis against members of the St. Charles County Police Department for excessive force, unlawful arrest, false imprisonment, failure to intervene, municipal liability, failure to train/instruct/supervise and battery.
Other defendants include Steve Ehlmann, Sgt. John Williams and Police Officers Scott Ronald and Nicholas Seiverling of the St. Charles County Police Department.
According to the complaint, on August 18, 2020, Setchfield was subjected to a severe beating, false arrest, and false imprisonment without cause by officers Ronald and Seiverling after the officers made a traffic stop in the parking lot of an Outback Steakhouse.
The subject of the stop was Setchfield's son, David, and the officers said the stop was due to expired license plates, but Setchfield's son was issued a traffic summons for failure to register a motor vehicle, which was later dismissed, the suit says.
Setchfield was arrested under the premise of Driving Under the Influence-Drugs (DUI-Marijuana). However, no marijuana and/or other items of evidentiary value were located in the vehicle David Setchfield was operating and the violation was later changed to a parking violation, the suit says.
David Setchfield called his father, James, to the scene. That is when the alleged beating of James happened, the suit says.
Setchfield seeks compensatory and punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney's fees and cost of suit. Setchfield is represented by John M. Lynch.
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Missouri Eastern Division case number 4:21-cv-00923