The Associated Press
PHOENIX, Ore. (AP) -- Members of the police department in this small Southern Oregon town are facing a lawsuit from a Phoenix resident who says officers violated his civil rights.
Phoenix resident Robert Detrick is seeking $300,000 in damages against the police department in a civil suit filed last week in Jackson County Circuit Court. The lawsuit also names the city, former Lt. Bob McKean and several officers as defendants.
Detrick, 77, says officers arrested him unlawfully and in a manner intended to scare and humiliate him after he resisted handing over his driver’s license when they stopped him in November 2002.
“Mr. Detrick was expressing an opinion, and that opinion had to do with personal right,” said Detrick’s attorney, Doug Gard of Medford. “They retaliated because it was a challenge to their authority.”
Arresting drivers who fail to show their driver’s license and can’t otherwise identify themselves is typical police procedure, said Phoenix Police Chief Bob Kershaw.
However, Detrick did eventually produce his driver’s license after officers pulled him over because his car did not have a light on its rear license plate, Gard said.
After Detrick spent the night in jail, the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office did not file charges against him, according to court records.
Detrick has no criminal record in Jackson County, court records show.
McKean, who resigned from the police department a month ago amid personnel conflicts, said he recalled Detrick’s arrest and said his interaction with officers was abnormal. Officers’ reports note that Detrick’s demeanor was “angry” and “irrational.”