BECKLEY – A North Carolina man alleges a Beckley police officer unlawfully seized him without any lawful justification.
Raymond Joseph Gaylord Jr. filed a complaint Jan. 30 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia against the City of Beckley, West Virginia and Dean R. Bailey alleging excessive force, unlawful seizure of a person and unlawful entry of home.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff is a former police officer and retired military officer. The suit states he was temporarily renting a home in Beckley while working for the Federal Office of Personnel Management in West Virginia.
The plaintiff alleges on Oct. 14, 2016, the utilities at the residence were cut off because the landlord failed to pay the utilities. He alleges when he approached the landlord, the landlord became belligerent. The suit states the plaintiff later learned the landlord did not own the property and was fraudulently renting it.
On the same day, Bailey, an officer with the Beckley Police Department responded to the rental property on a verbal disturbance complaint. The plaintiff alleges he spoke to Bailey through his screen door and that Bailey became "irate" and "attacked" him, placing him in handcuffs and charged him with obstruction.
The plaintiff claims the criminal charge was dismissed, but his employment contracted was terminated as a result of the charge.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against the defendants for compensatory damages, court costs, punitive damages and any further relief the court grants. He is represented by Mark S. Plants of Plants Law Offices in South Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 5:18-cv-00177