Man sues Las Cruces Police for millions after altercation while restrained

A video that came out Tuesday shows Las Cruces Police Department officers throwing a handcuffed suspect up against a wall and onto the floor, breaking bones and sending him to the hospital for days.

Russ Flynn is now suing the Las Cruces Police Department for $12.5 million after what happened in a holding cell in the headquarters building on Dec. 23.

The security camera footage shows Flynn kicking the door, and an officer steps up to speak to him.

Flynn was being held as a suspect in a dispute with a neighborinvolving a weapon, and was handcuffed around the waist with his hands in front.

Officers suddenly entered the cell, grabbing Flynn and forcing him down, hitting him with their knees and throwing him against the wall and then the ground.

The medical records show Flynn had a fractured skull around the eye, brain hemorrhaging, a cracked cheekbone and a cracked rib. And his attorney Jeff Lahann said that the officers went way beyond what was necessary in this case.

“We trust them to use force,” Lahann said. “It’s a dangerous job, and we trust them as citizens to use reasonable force when it’s called for. I think what’s shocking, and it’s just unconscionable the first time I saw it, there’s no reasonable justification for that.”

Police ultimately charged Flynn with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the incident involving his neighbor. They also charged him with two counts each of resisting, evading and obstructing an officer.

Lahann said that beyond the $12.5 million civil suit, he’s also asked for a criminal investigation.

“They rushed in and immediately began attacking him,” Lahann said. “You can see from the video that Mr. Flynn was helpless, defenseless, he had handcuffs on, and he’s being thrown around that cell like a ragdoll.”

According to the statements of officers Richard Garcia and Danny Salcido, Flynn “hit the wall with his head then fell to the ground” and the knee-strikes were to prevent him from “attempting to grab a hold of us or of our equipment.”

Some minutes after Flynn was further restrained, the footage show paramedics were brought in to see to his injuries. He had multiple fractures on the face and body. You can see blood from Flynn’s face start to drip on the floor later on. He was taken to University Medical Center and held for the next few days, including overChristmas.

“You can see from the video tape that the officers just immediately rushed in,” Lahann said. “They didn’t try to calm the situation down or use reasonable force or even just talk to him like a human being.”

As for the LCPD, spokesman Dan Trujillo said that they can’t comment on any lawsuits facing the department. There is no audio to the security camera footage, and sometimes events off camera add important context to how events unfold. Check with ABC-7 for the latest developments as the case continues.