CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A man has filed a federal lawsuit against five Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers, saying they attacked him when he called for help.
Khairi Williams filed the suit on Friday, August 23, 2024. He claims that he called 911 for help on the afternoon of December 10, 2021, while at the home of his children's mother. Williams' suit said she threatened him with a gun, prompting him to call the police for help. This reportedly happened after she took his keys and wallet from him and after attacking him physically.
However, the suit claims Ofcs. Matthew Ratchford, Tawan Skeen, Ryan Wood, Lauren Federowicz, and Sgt. Jose Torres didn't help and instead moved to arrest Williams, even after he calmly showed them a video on his phone of the alleged attack. He asked to see his son, who was being observed in a nearby ambulance after he expressed concern for his well-being because he thought his son's mother had dropped him on the floor during the reported attack.
Editor's note: The full text of the lawsuit follows below, as is available to the public for review. Some words and details that may be upsetting to readers are not censored. Reader discretion is advised.
One officer reportedly told Williams he was free to leave. But as Williams started walking away, the suit claims another officer called out that he was under arrest without any other warning or prompting. Williams then turned toward this officer with his arms raised out to his sides and asked why, as he was the one who called for help.
Williams said he was slammed onto a car hood and then to the ground. Ratchford reportedly pressed his knees into Williams' back and neck with his full weight, even as Williams tried to say he couldn't breathe. While other officers tried to get Ratchford to de-escalate, Ratchford reportedly ignored them and told Williams to "quit this I can't breathe bull----".
The suit said Williams lost consciousness as this all happened in front of his children, who he said were terrified. His toddler daughter reportedly cried out to one of the officers "You hurt my daddy". However, the officers were reportedly heard telling Williams to "give up the act" and that "all of this was his own doing".
The suit notes that Skeen, Wood and Torres joined in on reportedly pushing and throwing Williams against the hood of the car and onto the pavement, and that Federowicz also reportedly joined in on pinning him to the ground.
Eventually, Williams regained consciousness and was charged with assault on a female and resisting a public officer. However, those charges were later dismissed before Williams was set to appear in court for the first time and less than a year later.
Williams claims he was unlawfully arrested and that the officers used excessive force, which the suit said are violations of his Fourth Amendment rights. He also claims the officers assaulted him, falsely arrested and imprisoned him; worked to maliciously prosecute him, and were negligent in how they treated him during the incident. He also named the city of Charlotte in the suit, saying the city was negligent in its duty to properly train officers both in the use of force and in properly supervising them.
Williams seeks compensatory damages to be determined in a jury trial along with punishment for the officers and the city.
WCNC Charlotte has reached out to CMPD and to Williams' attorney for comment.