Civil rights attorney Harry Daniels announces a lawsuit against the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. With him are Le’Keian Woods and his mother, Natassia Woods. | News4Jax
Published on October 31, 2024 at 5:36 pm
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A 24-year-old man has sued the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office over a violent arrest that went viral in 2023.
Le’Keian Woods was arrested after running from police who suspected he was involved in a drug deal. Officers chased him through a Southside apartment complex, caught him, tased him, punched and elbowed him, and left him bruised with a ruptured kidney and eyes swollen shut.
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Someone captured the arrest on a cellphone and shared it on social media.
Sheriff T.K. Waters said at the time that the use of force was justified, but Woods’ attorney says the video shows something is wrong at the Sheriff’s Office.
Attorney Norman Harris conducted a news conference Thursday in front of Jacksonville’s federal courthouse, saying Woods, a Black man, was “savagely beaten.”
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“It was a racial profiling situation which led to the excessive use of force with the drawing of guns, which is totally unreasonable, which ultimately led to Mr. Woods fleeing,” Harris said. “So we are here because we are champions for justice, and we believe we must raise our voices for what is right, not just for this family, but to send a message.”
The lawsuit seeks damages from officers Hunter Sullivan, Trey McCullough and Beau Daigle, as well as former officer Josue Garriga.
The Sheriff’s Office said it could not comment on the suit because it is pending litigation.
The arrest
Woods’ arrest report from Sept. 29, 2023, says a Sheriff’s Office gang unit thought he was involved in a drug deal near Toledo Road and Powers Avenue.
Garriga wrote in a report that someone got out of a Ram pickup with something in a pocket that he thought might be a weapon. He said he recognized Woods as he saw him counting cash before getting back into the Ram, which drove away.
Officers said they followed the truck because the driver was not wearing a seatbelt. Two men were handcuffed, but Woods ran.
When officers caught him, he resisted arrest and they feared he was armed, the report said.
Officers punched him in the face and ribs, and Garriga wrote that he “delivered four knee strikes” to Woods’ upper shoulder area to get him to comply. Garriga also made “unintentional knee strikes” to Woods’ face until another officer handcuffed the young man, the report said.
Woods said Thursday that he got “kind of scared” when officers stopped him and the video “kind of speaks for itself.”
He was charged with multiple drug charges when arrested, but he ultimately was convicted of only resisting arrest without violence, court records show.
The lawsuit
Atlanta attorney Harry Daniels, who filed the lawsuit, said police had no legal basis for their actions.
“That drug deal never took place,” Daniels said. “There was no drug deal.”
Officers had probable cause to stop the truck for the seatbelt violation, but that did not give them a reason to draw their guns, he said.
Woods had no gun on him at that point, Daniels said, and ran out of fear of being shot. He also said that officers involved in the incident have been the subject of multiple complaints.
Sheriff Waters held a news conference Oct. 3, 2023, and acknowledged that the officers had used force. “And yes, that force is ugly,” he said.
“But just because force is ugly does not mean it is unlawful or contrary to policy,” the sheriff said at the time. All of the officers involved in the incidents remained on the street “where they belong,” he said.
Garriga is no longer on the force, however. He later pleaded guilty to enticement of a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity.
He was accused of pursuing a relationship with a teenage girl and exchanging nude photos. He pleaded guilty and faces a mandatory penalty of 10 years to life in federal prison. A sentencing date not been set.
