Officers accused of assaulting black woman, son at Sam’s Club

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    Des Peres, MO (KMOV) — A 68-year-old African American woman has filed a lawsuit against four Des Peres police officers that beat her and her son over a false claim that the pair had stolen a television from Sam’s Club.

Marvia Gray and her son Derek Gray said they bought a television from the Sam’s Club on Manchester Road on March 23. They could not fit the 65 inch TV into their SUV and said they made arrangements with store employees to come back for it.

The lawsuit says Derek Gray came back for the TV later that day but the television had been moved from the front of the store. When Derek asked store employees about the television, the lawsuit says the employee suspected Derek was stealing the TV. Eventually another store employee intervened to confirm that Derek had bought the TV earlier that day.

When Derek took the television out of the store and was loading it into the car, he was followed to his car by Officer Michael Clayborne. The lawsuit states the employees told Officer Clayborne that Derek and his mother had bought the TV earlier in the day.

“Despite knowing this information, Officer Clayborne made an emergency phone call to the Des Peres Police Department. During this emergency call, Officer Clayborne falsely reported that he had ‘witnessed Gray steal a TV and place it in the parked vehicle,’” the lawsuit reads.

Derek drove to his mother’s house to drop the TV off and told her what happened at the store. It was then, the lawsuit states, that the Grays decided to return the television to the store for a refund.

The lawsuit says that as the Grays were returning the TV, four police officers “without cause or adequate provocation and in the presence of countless witnesses, violently and physically seized Marvia Gray and Derek Gray, throwing them to the floor, beating them, handcuffing them, then arresting them. These actions are captured on closed-circuit video taken by the surveillance cameras in the store and cell phones of onlookers.”

Those four officers are identified as officers Clayborne, Brandley Summers, Ryan Righesisen, and Bill Maull.

Des Peres Police Department posted a statement in March following the incident. Click here to read.

Both Grays were hurt during this confrontation. According to the lawsuit, Marvia Gray suffered severe injuries to her tailbone, her back, her rotator cuff, her knees and her arms, among other injuries. Derek Gray suffered three shattered front teeth, a head injury requiring 12 stitches and seven staples as well as a cut above his right eye that required seven stitches along with severe neck and back pain.

Marvia Gray is suing the city of Des Peres and the four police officers.

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