Lawsuit Claims MA Officer Chasing White Man Wrongly Arrested Black Man

ARLINGTON, MA — A federal civil rights lawsuit was filed Wednesday after a police officer who was pursuing a white suspect pinned a 20-year-old Black man to the ground and placed a knee on his neck - despite having no evidence that he was involved in any crime.

Donovan Johnson was walking home in Arlington after leaving work in February 2021, when court documents say a white officer chasing after a white suspect ran up to Johnson, showed him his gun and threw him to the ground by his face.

The complaint says the officer then pinned Johnson to the ground, placing a knee on his neck, even after Johnston yelled "I can't breathe!" While the white suspect was left "unattended" during this time.

The lawsuit says the officer then searched Johnson, handcuffed him, and put him in the back of a cop car before he was later released with no charges. The lawsuit claimed Johnson's constitutional rights were violated when he was attacked in the first place.

In an interview with AP, Johnson said the incident took a huge toll on him emotionally. "I was wrongfully arrested and wrongfully searched just because of the fact that he thought I was the person that he was chasing down," AP reported Johnson saying.

Police initially were called to a hotel in Arlington about a man who the staff believed was involved in a television stealing scheme, the lawsuit says. According to the lawsuit, the white man was "known to police" for "prior criminal acts," and the clerk at the hotel confirmed the identity of the man using a photo police had.

As police went to the room to investigate, the man took off and officers began to chase him, the report says. Johnson had reportedly seen the man jog past him before the officer told both men to "get the [expletive] on the floor." The suspect reportedly got to his knees, but Johnson remained standing - which is what prompted the officer to pull out his gun and pin him down with a knee to his neck.

A spokesperson from Arlington Police Department said in an email that police couldn't comment pending the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims that employees at the hotel told officers they had never seen Johnson before, and he was released, but left to find his own way home.

AP reported one of Johnson's attorneys, Mirian Albert of Lawyers for Civil Rights, saying that she hopes the case will bring systematic changes to eradicate racial profiling practices in the department.

"All people should feel safe in their own communities. Mr. Johnson’s rights were violated within view of his home and this is exactly the type of police misconduct that fuels the mistrust between communities of color and law enforcement," AP reported Albert saying.

AP contributed to this post, read more here.