December 22. 2020

35-year-old African-American Lionel Womack, a former police detective, has filed suit in Kansas City, regarding an attempted vehicular homicide incident that occurred on August 15, 2020. Womack alleges in a federal lawsuit that Kiowa County Sheriff's Deputy, Jeremy Rodriguez, deliberately ran over him during a traffic stop.

Womack is claiming excessive force in his lawsuit, stating he was unlawfully pulled over, in an act of racial profiling. Womack stated, "When the first officer turned his lights on, I pulled over and complied...exactly as you're supposed to. But when three additional vehicles pulled up quickly and started to surround my car, I freaked out. That's when I took off, it was a ‘fight or flight’ moment and I was going to live. I felt like I was in danger. This was out in the country, late at night, and it was dark. So I ran for my life. That's what you see in the dashcam video. I'm running in an open field, and I'm scared."

Lionel Womack moments before he is knocked down and run over by police

Womack sustained back, pelvis, thigh, right knee, ankle and foot injuries when Rodriguez deliberately hit him with his car, then ran him over, for running from a group of police during a traffic stop. Womack maintains he was not speeding and his car's paperwork was up to date.

The Associated Press reported, "Rodriguez swerves his truck to hit Womack, knocking him to the ground and running over him. Womack rolls out from under the truck, his arms and legs flailing as someone on the video shouts, “lie down, lie down.” A deputy in the second patrol truck can be heard uttering an expletive as he watches."

Lionel Womack

Womack stated of the police brutality, "We have to hold law enforcement accountable when they cross the line. These rogue law enforcement officers give a bad name to the good officers, and we have to stop them. I never imagined that I would someday be the victim of excessive force by a fellow law enforcement officer. He could have easily killed me."

The video footage of the brutal incident looks like something you'd seen during slavery, when slavemasters went out to retrieve runaway slaves. It's not a good look. Civil rights violation charges should have been filed in criminal court, as well as counts for attempted murder and assault.

STORY SOURCE

Federal lawsuit: Kansas deputy purposely ran over Black man

Thu, December 17, 2020, 10:03 AM EST- BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — The dashcam video captured a horrific scene: a Kansas sheriff's deputy in a patrol truck mowing down a Black man who was running, shirtless, across a field in the summer darkness after fleeing a traffic stop.

Lionel Womack — a 35-year-old former police detective from Kansas City, Kansas — alleges in a excessive force lawsuit filed Thursday that he sustained serious injuries when Kiowa County Sheriff's Deputy Jeremy Rodriguez intentionally drove over him during the Aug. 15 encounter.

Womack said in a statement that he hadn't been speeding nor was he under the influence of anything when he was initially pulled over. His driver's license, insurance and registration were up to date...

https://currently.att.yahoo.com