Lawsuit: Cop Arrested Man for Taking Parking Spot

Florida man says it took years to clear his name
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 9, 2014 1:00 AM CST
Lawsuit: Cop Arrested Man For Snagging Parking Spot
Parking in Deerfield Beach can be ... competitive.   (Shutterstock)

"It's a typical thing: Two people see a spot; two people go for it," a lawyer for Florida man Clausel Pierre says. "But in this case, one of those people was a police officer with the power to arrest." According a lawsuit Pierre filed late last month, Detective Frank Maio arrested him—allegedly causing some serious injuries in the process—after Pierre was first to pull into a parking spot in front of the Deerfield Beach shoe store where Maio did security work when off duty. Pierre says Maio ordered him to move after he got out of his SUV and tried to arrest him when he refused. What followed: a 911 call ("Get on the ground" and "give me your other hand," says one voice; "I'm on the phone with 911," protests another.)

Pierre in his lawsuit claims Maio actually fired his weapon at him, "striking Plaintiff with a bullet causing great bodily harm including internal injuries." The officer charged Pierre with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence after the Jan. 27, 2011 incident—but Pierre spent the next two years fighting the charges and they were eventually dropped. "The judge threw them out after it was revealed that the officer had too many conflicting statements of the account," his lawyer tells the Broward-Palm Beach New Times. But the Broward County Sheriff's Office never admitted wrongdoing—or legal liability—and Pierre is seeking compensation of at least $15,000 plus legal costs. (Another unusual lawsuit involves ... a milkshake.)

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