CHARLESTON – A federal court has declared the City of Dunbar in default after it and two of its police officers failed to answer an excessive force lawsuit.
Rickey Baire filed his complaint May 9 in federal court against Zachary Winters, Adam Mason and the City of Dunbar. This is the third such lawsuit filed against Dunbar officers in less than two years. Both of the previous cases also involved Winters.
On June 21, U.S. District Court Clerk Rory Perry filed an Entry of Default in the case.
“Pursuant to the provisions of Rule 55(A) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the records of this court reflecting that appropriate time has elapsed since Zachary Winters, Adam Mason and the City of Dunbar were duly served with the complaint, and each party has failed to answer or otherwise plead,” the one-page entry states. “It is adjudged that Zachary Winters, Adam Mason and the City of Dunbar are in default and that the plaintiff shall have and recover of the said defendants such sums or sums as the plaintiff shall provide to the court.”
According to the complaint, Baire was riding his bicycle in Dunbar on June 6, 2022, when Winters pulled him over. He was not armed nor suspected of being armed, and he was not intoxicated, incapacitated or a threat to anyone.
Winters asked Baire to provide identification, according to the complaint. When he was removing his ID from his pocket, he says Winters pulled a gun on Baire and demanded he raise his hands. When asked about weapons, Baire told Winters he had a pocketknife in his pocket. Baire was instructed to get on his knees and remove the knife from his pocket.
“Plaintiff, noticing that defendant Winters had moved closer with the gun still pointed at him, removed the pocketknife from his pocket and tossed the pocketknife away from his person,” the complaint states. “After tossing the pocketknife, plaintiff left the area in fear that defendant Winters intended to harm him.
“Defendant Winters then pursued plaintiff and, during the pursuit, dropped a bullet clip and called for back-up. Defendant Mason responded to the back-up call and headed toward the area in a vehicle. Plaintiff observed a vehicle traveling toward him prompting him to jump out of the way. However, the operator of the vehicle, defendant Mason swerved toward plaintiff in what plaintiff believed to be an attempt to strike him with the vehicle.”
Baire says he got on the ground and laid there compliant and posing no threat, but he says Mason and Winters approached him and began physically attacking him with no justification.
“Both officers began beating and kicking plaintiff about his body, and defendant Winters kneed him multiple times with no justification in the ribs on his left side,” the complaint states. “Winters yelled threatening and derogatory remarks and called plaintiff profane names.”
After being handcuffed, Baire says Winters yelled for him to stand and get into the police vehicle. Baire says he told Winters he couldn’t do so because of the pain in his ribs and his inability to breathe. He says the officers then “roughly” shoved him into the vehicle.
At the police station, Baire said he was kept waiting for hours while he had trouble breathing and being injured without being given access to medical treatment. He also says Winters continued to berate him.
When Baire was allowed to call his father, he said Winters told his father he had 20 minutes to bring $400 to the Dunbar Police Department. When Baire’s father said he couldn’t get there in 20 minutes, Winters took Baire to South Central Regional Jail.
“Upon arrival at the jail, plaintiff had to be reassured by the corrections staff … they would not permit defendant Winters to strike plaintiff again,” the complaint states, noting Baire was released later that day.
On June 18, 2022, Baire says he was diagnosed with multiple closed fractures of his left ribs.
He accuses Winters and Mason of excessive force and the city of being liable for the officers’ actions.
Baire seeks general damages for pain, suffering, medical bills and emotional distress. He also seeks compensatory damages for economic losses and expenses related to the incident, special damages for medical care and lost earnings, pre- and post-judgment interests, attorney fees, court costs, expenses and other relief as well as punitive damages against Winters and Mason, both of whom still are employed by the city as police officers.
Last year, Dunbar settled a fatal police brutality case for $2 million. And in December, another federal police brutality case was filed. In January, a federal judge ordered default judgment after the defendants didn’t answer the complaint, but it has been set aside. The parties are in the discovery stage on that case.
“The complant speaks for itself,” attorney L. Dante diTrapano previously told The West Virginia Record. “Another incident of the Dunbar Police using unnecessary and excessive force on one of their citizens.”
Like with the plaintiffs in the other two cases, Baire is being represented by diTrapano and Amanda Davis of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston and by Jesse Forbes and Jennifer Taylor of Forbes Law Offices in Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 2:24-cv-00238