Mesa police face civil rights lawsuit for 'excessive use of force.' What we know
The Mesa Police Department is facing a federal civil rights lawsuit that stems from a 2022 incident that took place at a quinceañera that ended with a man beaten at the hands of police.
The lawsuit names police Chief Ken Cost, City Manager Chris Brady along with seven other police officers for alleged negligence, excessive use of force and violations of civil rights.
The civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Daniel Barraza was filed in November in the U.S. District Court of Arizona. Barraza demanded a jury trial and nearly $30 million for medical expenses and damages.
His civil suit alleges he was illegally and violently struck by the officers causing several injuries to his ribs and head and that one officer illegally deployed a taser.
Neither the city nor the police department provided further comment on the incident, citing pending litigation.
The department did confirm there was not an internal investigation in the case “because the force used was not found to violate any Mesa Police Department policies,” Detective Brandi Myers, a Mesa police spokesperson wrote in an email to The Arizona Republic.
The city submitted an answer to the complaint in court denying the allegations laid out in the lawsuit. However, the city joined Barraza’s demand for a jury trial.
Lawsuit claims
On Oct. 2, Daniel Barraza attended a quniceñera in Mesa in which police were called in response to a fight.
The lawsuit claims Barraza stayed at the quinceñera to tell police that an uninvited guest inappropriately touched young girls at the party to get them to dance with him.
The lawsuit alleges that Officer Rudy Monarrez gave "out some type of call to arms” that set the tone for the interaction with Barraza before entering the dance hall.
Monarrez asked Barraza to sit, and he replied he doesn’t need to take a seat and turned to him, the complaint reads. Monarrez then “violently impact pushes (Barraza) in his chest which causes him to fall backward towards a pilar, and two officers grab (Barraza) and throw him to the ground, according to the lawsuit.
After that, Barraza was struck in the head, face and ribs by three officers and tased by another officer, the lawsuit states.
As a result of the beating the lawsuit states Barraza suffered “a traumatic brain injury, broken ribs, spinal injuries, loss of consciousness, and a concussion.”
The lawsuit also alleges Officers Monarrez, Austin Stefick, Tucker Workman, Adam Martin, Russell Bickle, Jonathan Vo and Sargent Travis Austin made false statements in police reports about the use of force.
Chief Ken Cost is named as a defendant in the lawsuit because he “breached his duty by failing to adequately train” the seven officers. City Manager Chris Brady is also named because the lawsuit claims he is liable for the conduct of city employees.
Mesa’s answers to claims
In a response to Barraza’s lawsuit, the city denied the claims and stated none of the city’s policies were deficient under state or federal law.
“The actions of the city’s officers were objectively reasonable and justified under the circumstance,” stated court documents submitted by Jason Reed, Mesa’s deputy city attorney.
Instead, Barraza’s injuries resulted from his “own negligence,” Reed stated in court documents.
History of use of force cases
Barraza’s lawsuit notes Monarrez’s previous written reprimand for violating the department’s code of conduct in a May 2018 beating of Robert Johnson.
A surveillance video showed five officers punch or knee Johnson after he didn’t immediately follow orders to sit down. The case received national attention that later prompted the Federal Bureau of Investigation to open a probe into the use of force.
In 2018, there were at least four open FBI probes into Mesa Police Department use-of-force cases.
Another case involved then-15-year-old Gabriel Ramirez, who was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault and is being prosecuted as an adult.
The third FBI case occurred on Sept. 22, 2017, when three Mesa police officers shot and killed 28-year-old U.S. Army veteran Scott Farnsworth. The FBI later declined to investigate.
The fourth FBI probe involved the 2016 deadly shooting of Daniel Shaver, who was on his knees and begging for his life in a Mesa hotel when he was shot dead by then-Mesa police Officer Philip Brailsford, who was tried for murder and found not guilty by a jury.
A spokesperson for the FBI wrote in an email to The Republic that it is part of the Bureau's longstanding policy to not provide status updates on specific investigations.
In 2018, Mesa police confirmed the U.S. Department of Justice launched a civil rights violation investigation against Shaver.
Following the Johnson case and public scrutiny of the department’s use of force, the department implemented a new policy to prevent officers from striking people’s faces or heads unless a suspect was being combative.
Reporter Maritza Dominguez covers Mesa, Gilbert and Queen Creek and can be reached at maritza.dominguez@arizonarepublic.com or 480-271-0646. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @maritzacdom.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: About the federal civil rights lawsuit that Mesa police are facing