CHARLESTON – A Kanawha County man says excessive force by two Dunbar police officers, including being power slammed to the pavement, caused his son’s death this summer.
Michael Scott Sr., as administrator of the estate of Michael Scott Jr., filed his complaint September 29 in federal court against the City of Dunbar and Officers Zachary Winters and Adam Mason.
According to the complaint, Winters first made contact with Scott Jr. just after midnight on July 22.
diTrapano
| Courtesy photo
“Defendant Winters began yelling, berating and threatening Michael Scott Jr.,” the complaint states. “Defendant Mason arrived and was actively looking to see if he could find a reason to arrest or further detain Michael Scott Jr.”
They didn’t find any and let to continue patrols, according to the complaint. About 15 minutes later, Winters encountered Scott Jr. again after learning of an apparently outstanding warrant for misdemeanor trespassing. Scott Jr. was arrested.
Mason soon arrived to assist Winters, according to the complaint. Bodycam footage from Winters shows him cuffing Scott Jr. and searching him. It says Scott Jr. made no attempt to run or flee. But, the complaint says footage shows Winters yelling and screaming at Scott Jr. telling him not to pull away. (Dunbar has not released bodycam or police department footage to the plaintiff’s attorneys, according to the complaint.)
“Then, as shown on both defendant Winters and defendant Mason’s bodycam footage, with no provocation nor any valid justification, defendant Winters picked the cuffed and restrained Michael Scott Jr. up from behind and lifted his body off of the ground, slamming Michael Scott Jr.’s head onto the pavement of the street and causing catastrophic injuries to Michael Scott Jr.’s skull and head,” the complaint states. “Defendant Winters would later state that he ‘suplexed’ Michael Scott Jr. because he ‘ran’ from him.
“Defendant Winters actually slammed Mr. Scott’s head into the pavement through the ‘suplex’ maneuver, which caused him to suffer an epidural hematoma and three basilar skull fractures that ultimately resulted in his death.”
A suplex is a professional wrestling move where a wrestler picks up the opponent off the mat and, using their own body weight, throws the opponent into the air over their center of gravity causing the opponent to be airborne and land violently.
“Mason stated to defendant Winters, immediately after the violent slamming of Mr.Scott through the ‘suplex’ maneuver in which Mr. Scott was slammed on his head into the pavement, ‘All I see is you picked him up and slammed him,’” the bodycam footage shows, according to the complaint.
Mason then contacted Metro 911 to request a medic be sent to the Dunbar Police Department to evaluate Scott Jr. Winters and Mason then tried to clean the streaming blood from the face, head and ear area of Scott Jr. at the scene.
“They did not request or call for the paramedic to come to the scene, but instead cleaned up the injury and the large amounts of blood and then transported Mr. Scott from the scene to the Dunbar Police Department in defendant Winters’ cruiser,” the complaint states.
It says Winters’ bodycam video and audio as well as footage from the holding area of the Dunbar Police Department shows “a dangerous and shocking series of events” following the suplex incident.
“When paramedics arrived, defendant Winters downplays the injuries to Michael Scott Jr., claiming he fell when attempting to run from him and that his earring had been torn by the pavement when he fell running, which had not occurred,” the complaint states. “Further, Michael Scott Jr. directly told the paramedics at the station, as can be heard on defendant Winters’ bodycam, that he wished to go to the hospital as he was concerned about internal injuries.”
The complaint says the paramedics waited while Winters and Mason had a discussion with their bodycams turned off outside of the holding area. When they return to the holding area, it says the footage shows the officers stare at Scott Jr., who did some paperwork with the paramedics, who then note Scott Jr. declined transport to a hospital.
An hour or so later, Scott Jr. was transported to South Central Regional Jail in Charleston. During transport, bodycam footage shows Scott moaning, saying the pain and pressure in his head was worse, begging for help and asking to be taken to the hospital. Winters tells Scott he isn’t taking him to a hospital, only to jail.
At the jail, bodycam footage shows Winters cuffing and restraining Scott, who is nearly falling over and is leaning on a wall to support himself. It shows Winters shouting at Scott to tell him to stop leaning on the wall and to keep walking. It also shows Scott needing assistance from two correctional officers to stand while he is processed through the body scanner.
As Scott continued to moan in pain and lay his head on a counter, Winters continues to claim Scott is fine and that he’s faking his condition.
“SCRJ guards and nursing staff explained to defendant Winters that they did not believe Michael Scott Jr. was medically clear or safe to enter the jail,” the complaint states. “Defendant Winters then began arguing with the staff that he had a jail commitment and that he was leaving Michael Scott Jr. at the jail.”
Winters again said the blood from Scott’s ear was caused by the earring being torn from his ear, according to the complaint. It also says jail staff told Winters he would need to take Scott to a hospital. Winters argued then messaged Mason, who had a phone call with a lieutenant at the jail.
“Mason went so far as to represent to the SCRJ Lieutenant that he had spoken with both the Dunbar city attorney and Dunbar municipal judge and that they had confirmed that once a jail commitment was issued that the Dunbar police officers would be able to drop a person at the jail and that they were not responsible for taking them for further medical clearance,” the complaint states.
“Winters was callous and uncaring, with absolutely no remorse for his actions injuring Michael Scott Jr. as he watched Michael Scott Jr.’s condition continue to deteriorate and the internal head injuries continue to manifest. … Winters continued to attempt to mislead the jail and medical staff telling them that Mr. Scott was putting on a show and faking his condition or that he possible was having a drug overdose. This resulted in jail staff and medical staff administering Narcan to Mr. Scott.”
The complaint says Winters told Scott to “stop putting on a show” and told staff, “He decided to run from … didn’t work out” and “tried to run from me so he got suplexed.”
When a jail staff told Winters that Scott may have defecated on himself, the complaint says Winters answered in an uncaring manner that “he thought they had cooked salmon at the police station earlier and that could have been the smell as it ‘smelled like ass.’”
Talking to Mason on the phone, Winters told him, “I’m watching Michael Scott Jr. basically die right here.”
Eight minutes after Scott arrived at the jail, staff contacted the Charleston Fire Department for his “alarming and deteriorating physical condition.” Jail staff told CFD personnel they believed Scott had been beaten by the officer who brought him to the jail.
After Scott was transported, a nurse from Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital contacted Winters to see what had happened because Scott couldn’t communicate.
According to the complaint, Winters told the nurse Scott had been “picked up and placed on the ground.”
Scott died on July 24 at CAMC. The injuries he sustained included an epidural hematoma and basilar skull fractures. The complaint says the prevention of appropriate medical treatment caused Scott pain and suffering, mental and emotional distress, embarrassment, humiliation, fear and led to his death.
Both the city and Mason have other excessive force complaints pending in federal court, and the complaint says other cases have been filed in state court. In addition, it says the Dunbar Police Department recently changed its use of force policy to allow “further escalation and to include striking of a subject’s head.”
The complaint accuses Winters and Mason of using excessive force, depravation of medical care and deliberate indifference and civil conspiracy. It accuses the city of reckless conduct and all defendants of depravation of rights. It also accuses Winters of assault and battery.
Scott Sr. seeks general damages for all physical pain, medical bills, mental suffering, emotional distress, conscious pain and suffering, pain and suffering, sorrow, mental anguish, loss of solace, loss of income, services, protection, care and assistance, Scott Jr.’s pain and suffering before his death, attorney fees, court costs, pre- and post-judgment interests and other relief. He also seeks punitive damages.
He is being represented by L. Dante diTrapano of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston and by W. Jesse Forbes of Forbes Law Offices in Charleston.
DiTrapano declined further comment other than to say, “The complaint speaks for itself.”
U.S. District Court case number 2:22-cv-00419