Portland, Oregon Jul 11, 2019 (Issuewire.com) - The owner of an anti-police misconduct website that invites people to post their stories about bad experiences with law enforcement is now the plaintiff in a police brutality lawsuit against Multnomah County, its sheriff, and several deputies. CopBlaster.com founder Cyrus Sullivan suffered a broken left arm during a use of force incident at the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC). Deputies claim that Sullivan is himself to blame for the broken arm. Sullivan claims that the arm was intentionally broken as a result of excessive force.
In the aftermath members of the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and the United States Attorney’s Offices (USAO) accused Sullivan of trying to punch one deputy, elbowing a second, and knocking a third to the ground by kicking her. According to deputies, Sullivan refused to be taken to solitary voluntarily, force was necessary to make Sullivan comply with the removal process, upon entering the cell Sullivan threw a handful of spicy chip seasoning “like pepper spray” in an effort to blind deputies, a “pop” was heard while he was being forcibly handcuffed in his cell that they believe was his arm breaking, he “fought ferociously” the entire time he was being taken to the disciplinary housing floor, and he did not complain about his arm being broken until after deputies un-cuffed him. These allegations were the basis for a subsequent indictment under Title I8 U.S.C. 111(a)(b) charging Sullivan with multiple assaults on federal officers resulting in bodily injury (DC of Oregon Case No. 3:17-CR-00306-JGZ.) Sullivan faced up to 20 years in prison.
Sullivan’s version of events was drastically different. Sullivan has always maintained that he never threatened to put out a hit on a medical technician before deputies were called to take him to solitary; never threw any punches, kicks, or elbows, and that throughout the entire escort to the disciplinary floor; that he was just trying to walk comfortably while deputies kept pulling him back and forth while shoving his head down and giving him wedgies; that he was never given the opportunity to comply with a forced strip search; and his arm was broken by a deputy twisting it long after he had stopped resisting. As reported by The Oregonian in an article titled "Spicy chips thrown in a deputy's face leads to guilty plea for assault":
"The judge almost didn't accept the plea as Cyrus Andrew Sullivan, 35, denied the prosecution's allegation that he had elbowed Multnomah County sheriff's Deputy Tim Ba[r]ker in the face and neck while in custody on a federal hold on June 28, 2017. Sullivan said he "didn't throw an elbow,'' but "nailed him right in the face'' with spicy chips he had been eating…While prosecutors contend Sullivan caused physical injury to the deputy, Sullivan and his lawyers said law enforcement officials documented no injuries. The deputy didn't receive medical treatment or time off as a result of the encounter, Sullivan's lawyers argued."
In the month leading up to Sullivan’s plea, his lawyers obtained an expert witness report from Dr. Wilson Hayes Ph.D. of Hayes and Associates. Dr. Hayes is an expert “in biomechanics, orthopaedic research and injury reconstruction”. Dr. Hayes concluded:
"to a reasonable degree of engineering and biomechanical certainty, that Mr. Sullivan's humeral fracture occurred in cell 4F13 of the fourth floor detention center when he was pinned to the mattress on the cell floor by Deputies Barker & Ingram and when his arm was “twisted behind his back.” … the facts of the case rule out the version of the events provided by the Deputies, asserting that the fracture occurred in Mr. Sullivan's cell 5D23 on the fifth floor as deputies were trying to handcuff Mr. Sullivan."
Dr. Hayes’ report forms the bulk of the merits behind Sullivan’s claims. There is no video footage of the incident because MCSO corrections deputies do not wear body cameras and the surveillance cameras in the MCDC housing units do not record. Sullivan also plans to locate witnesses that told his defense team that he only threatened to put the medical technician on his website and that he was not fighting as he left the housing unit. He hopes that by raising awareness for his lawsuit that he might hear from others with similar allegations against the defendants in his lawsuit.
For more information visit:
Cyrus Andrew Sullivan v. Multnomah County et. al. (DC of Oregon case no: 3:19-CV-995-SB)
https://copblaster.com/uploads/files/sullivanvmultcoso.pdf
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