CHARLESTON – Another man says he was the victim of excessive force at the hands of members of the Dunbar Police Department.
Anthony Scott Coleman filed his complaint in federal court November 15 against Officer Chris Kendall, Officer Chad Shafer, Officer Preston Oxley and the City of Dunbar.
Coleman’s is at least the fourth federal complaint filed against the city and its officers. Last year, Dunbar settled a fatal police brutality case for $2 million.
DiTrapano and Forbes
| File photos
“It’s the epitome of an excessive force case where you have a guy who’s in custody, who they sick a dog on, and the dog chews up his leg and arm,” said L. Dante diTrapano, one of the attorneys representing Coleman. “Then the officers repeatedly hit our client in the face and head. He has to go to the hospital before he goes to jail. There is just no place for that in this world. That’s why we filed the lawsuit.”
According to the complaint, Coleman was driving on 10th Street in Dunbar at 1:18 a.m. on July 19, 2023, when he slowed down to pull into McDonald’s before realizing it was closed. Oxley flashed his cruiser lights, and Coleman pulled over, according to body cam footage.
After requesting Coleman’s information, Oxley returned to his cruiser. Upon returning to Coleman’s car, Oxley asked him to step out of the vehicle. Coleman refused to do so. Kendall then arrived at the scene, and Oxley told him he had seen Coleman drive by and appear to have a liquor bottle in his hand. Oxley then said he “ran his shit” and Coleman refused to get out of his vehicle.
“He said no?” Kendall stated, according to the body cam footage. “Aw, that’s not happening.”
Kendall and Oxley then rushed Coleman’s vehicle. Kendall ordered Coleman out of the car and “immediately reached in through the window and grabbed plaintiff, stating, ‘I’m going to f--k you up.’”
In his incident report, Oxley said “Coleman then grabbed Cpl. Kendall’s arm and pulled it inside the vehicle and prevented him from pulling it back out by holding it between his arms and body.”
“The body cameras of defendants Kendall and Oxley do not show such actions,” the complaint states. “Instead, body cam video from defendant Oxley shows that defendant Kendall approached plaintiff’s vehicle, reached in to open the door from inside plaintiff’s vehicle and grabbed plaintiff’s left hand. Defendant Kendall is heard screaming, ‘Don’t f---ing touch me, get off of me.’ While he crushed plaintiff’s wrist. Plaintiff at no time had a hold of defendant Kendall. Defendant Oxley’s body camera also showed that defendant Kendall reached inside the vehicle and placed his arm around plaintiff’s neck.”
Kendall’s body cam footage video shows him demanding Coleman exit the vehicle. When Coleman didn’t do so, Kendall opened the car door, grabbed Coleman by the head and cut his seat belt with a knife.
Then, Shafer arrived on the scene with K9 Molly. Kendall’s body cam footage shows Molly barking aggressively as Shafer approached Coleman’s vehicle.
“You want to get dog bit, then you better f---ing comply,” the footage shows Oxley screaming at Coleman.
Shafer then releases Molly and tells the dog, “Ah get him, get him.” The dog attacked Coleman’s legs while he was still seated in the car.
Kendall then jerked Coleman out of the vehicle and threw him on the ground, the footage shows, while Molly’s jaws still are clamped on his leg. Kendall shoved Coleman face down on the ground, handcuffed him behind his back and struck Coleman multiple times in the head with his flashlight and hands, the footage shows.
“Kendall shoved plaintiff’s neck to the ground and pounded his head on the pavement,” the complaint states. “The sound of defendant Kendall pounding plaintiff’s head onto the pavement can be clearly heard on the bodycam audio recording. … K9 Molly continued to bite/chew on plaintiff’s leg after the plaintiff was on the ground and in defendant Kendall’s custody.”
Shafer finally released the dog off of Coleman as Kendall asked him, “Do you feel good about yourself, f---ing stupid?” Shafer then called for EMS to assess Coleman.
When Coleman asked why he was under arrest, Kendall responded, “What the f--k do you think?” When Coleman said he had no idea, Kendall said, “Well then you are as stupid as you look, I guess.” When Coleman asked again, Kendall shoved Coleman headfirst into the back of the cruiser while screaming, “F---ing kick me, motherf---er, get in the G-- damn car” before he slammed the door shut, the footage shows.
According to the complaint, EMS treated Coleman’s injuries while he remained in the back of the cruiser on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back. It says the had difficult deciding how to get Coleman out of the vehicle, but Oxley grabbed Coleman by his legs and pulled him out as Coleman screamed in pain while Kendall said, “Yeah, stupid. Hurts, don’t it?”
When Coleman again asked why he was under arrest, Kendall replied, “Murder.” He says the officers also called him a “drunk idiot.”
When EMS saw the dog bites on Coleman’s leg, Shafer is heard on the body cam footage saying, “See the advantage of having a dog?”
EMS took Coleman to Thomas Memorial Hospital for treatment. When he was discharged, Kendall took him to the Dunbar Police station before transporting him to South Central Regional Jail.
Coleman accuses Kendall, Shafer and Oxley of excessive force and civil conspiracy. He accuses the city of negligent training, negligent supervision and Monell liability.
Attorney Jesse Forbes also is representing Coleman.
“There’s a number of lawsuits against the Dunbar police, and it’s a tragic situation that we have here because it seems like history just keeps repeating itself,” Forbes said. “It’s a sad and unfortunate situation particularly in Dunbar when you have officers who have been accused multiple times of very serious and very heinous acts, and those accusations are on tape. Then those people continue to be in positions of power.
“It’s dangerous, and it’s scary for the citizens. It’s dangerous and scary for our clients. We hope that through the civil justice system, we can effectuate some change with that.”
DiTrapano agreed.
“It is a circus in Dunbar right now,” he said. “They promoted Officer (Zachary) Winters, who is on body cam slamming Michael Scott Jr. on his head and then driving him to jail, passing up Thomas Hospital, while he begged for his life.
“You would think that something would’ve changed after the Michael Scott Jr. case, which was maybe the most horrific police brutality case in the history of this state. Dunbar paid $2 million dollars on the strength of the video without any other evidence. We expected change. There’s been no change.”
Forbes said survivors of police brutality have issues long after the actual incident.
“You’re constantly looking over your shoulder,” he said. “You’re constantly having issues, psychological and mental torment there. Not to mention the physical issues as to having gone to the hospital having dealt with these things. This is stuff that can weigh not only physically on you, but it weighs on your soul.
“This is something that’s inside of you and internal, and you have to live with going forward in your life. This has no place in America, shouldn’t happen in West Virginia. Dunbar needs to clean this place up, and we see time and time again the same type of tragic thing with the city of Dunbar.”
Coleman seeks compensatory damages, special damages, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
He is being represented by diTrapano and Charles Bellomy of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston, by Forbes and Jennifer N. Taylor of Forbes Law Offices in Charleston and by Shawn R. Romano of Romano & Associates in Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 2:24-cv-654