LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A new lawsuit alleging police brutality was filed recently against four unknown Louisville Metro Police officers, Louisville Metro Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel and Louisville Metro Government.
The lawsuit claims four LMPD officers used excessive force and unlawfully detained and searched four Black men in February of 2023. The suit was filed Tuesday in Jefferson County Circuit Court.
Court documents show Duron Weaver, Dushon Weaver, Micah Gazaway and De'arreon Williams were getting breakfast at a Burger King on Feb. 10, 2023. They were eating in a parked car when four unmarked LMPD vehicles blocked in their vehicle.
According to the lawsuit, the officers got out of their cars, pointed their guns at the men, removed them from their car, placed them in handcuffs and searched both them and the vehicle. The lawsuit goes on the state police never found anything in the car or on the men, and the men were released and never charged with a crime.
Court documents allege LMPD had no reasonable suspicion or probable cause to take such drastic action.
In a statement sent to WHAS11 News, LMPD said it cannot comment on ongoing litigation, but said "the members of LMPD work diligently to make our city a safer place by providing fair, equitable, and constitutional police services to the people of Louisville."
"The public expects our officers to perform difficult tasks in challenging conditions and maintain a high standard of professionalism," the statement said. "We stand behind those expectations and meet or exceed them daily.”
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