Man files federal lawsuit against former Centralia officer, city of Centralia and others
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Centralia man has filed a federal lawsuit against a former Centralia police officer, the Centralia Police Department, the City of Centralia and two others after the man was allegedly pulled over, assaulted and arrested without probable cause.
The lawsuit was filed on May 12, 2021 in the U.S. District Court for Western Missouri by plaintiff James Robert White.
Individual defendants in the case include former Centralia officers Brian Dulany and Clint Baer and current Centralia police chief Robert Bias.
According to the lawsuit, former Centralia officer Clint Baer was stalking and harassing White's girlfriend.
On May 19, 2019, White alleges that Baer and Dulany pulled him over, detained him and assaulted him.
The lawsuit claims that Dulany and Baer pulled over White's vehicle because of an earlier call of a vehicle driving without its lights on. The lawsuit claims that Dulany's dash camera footage proved that White's tail lights were in fact functional and White says it was only an excuse for him to be pulled over.
Baer was sent to prison for an unrelated crime of attempting to illicit sex out of a minor.
The defendants are charged with unlawful arrest and excessive force, assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent hiring/retention/supervision.
