HUNTINGTON — A lawsuit alleging excessive force by a police officer for the City of Point Pleasant has been dismissed.
The plaintiffs and the defendants previously came to an agreement and settled the case, according to U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Chambers' dismissal order.
"The parties further move this Court for entry of an order dismissing the above-captioned matter, with prejudice," Chambers wrote.
Chambers noted that all parties would bear their own costs with regarding to the litigation of the matter.
Jacob Ford filed the lawsuit in 2019. He alleged he was a passenger in a vehicle driven by his father and the vehicle became stuck in a ditch in an attempt to avoid high water on Chestnut Street in Henderson on Feb. 19, 2018.
Ford alleges his father called a tow company to help remove the vehicle and at some point, Reynolds and other officers from the police department and sheriff's department arrived on the scene and berated the plaintiff for unknown reasons.
Reynolds "ordered the plaintiff, whose hands were full of bags of groceries that had been removed from the vehicle, to leave the area, again for unknown reasons," the complaint states. The plaintiff alleges he then began to leave the area, only to turn around and ask why he had to leave. Reynolds allegedly then threatened Ford.
Ford claims he made no moves forward or made any move that could have been interpreted as threatening, but Reynolds allegedly grabbed him and slammed him into the pavement and he was arrested for obstructing an officer.
Ford was seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He was represented by Paul E. Biser of Fredeking & Biser Law Offices.
The defendants were represented by Cy Hill of Cipriani & Werner; and Charles R. Bailey and John P. Fuller of Bailey & Wyant.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 3:19-cv-00720
