Lawsuit: Search of apartment by police motivated by race

CHARLESTON - An Oak Hill man is alleging that he was subjected to an unlawful search warrant.

Marcus Quadale Grasty filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia's Charleston division Oct. 11.

The lawsuit alleges violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, negligent and reckless infliction of emotional distress, negligent supervision and training, negligence, tort of outrage, racial discrimination and constitutional tort.

The plaintiff says he lived in Plateau Oaks Apartments with his daughter at the time of the incident.

On Oct. 4, 2011, the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, City of Oak Hill Police Department and West Virginia Department of State Police executed a search warrant at his apartment that was obtained for an individual named Maurice Lamar McCain, according to the complaint.

The plaintiff contends while the police executed the search warrant at the his apartment, the police violated the plaintiff's constitutional rights, vandalized his apartment and caused damages to his personal property.

The defendant's vandalization of the plaintiff's apartment was motivated by and due to plaintiff's African-American race, the complaint states.

The plaintiff is seeking an undisclosed amount of damages, including punitive damages. He is being represented in the case by Beckley attorneys Kyle G. Lusk and Matthew A. Bradford of Kyle G. Lusk & Associates.

The defendants are: the West Virginia Dept. of State Police; the City of Oak Hill; City of Oak Hill Police Dept. Cpl. C. A. Young, in his individual and official capacity as an Oak Hill Police Officer; Officer Jarvis, in his individual and official capacity as a state trooper; Trooper Adkins, in his individual and official capacity as a state trooper; and John Does.

United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia Charleston Division Case No. 2:13-24115.