A Black former police detective filed an excessive force lawsuit in federal court against a rural Kansas sheriff’s department on Thursday, alleging he was intentionally run over by a patrol truck after fleeing a traffic stop in August. The suit comes as dashcam footage capturing the incident was released.
Lionel Womack, a 35-year-old former police detective from Kansas City, Kansas, claims he suffered significant injuries when Kiowa County Deputy Jeremy Rodriguez ran over him with a patrol truck as he was fleeing on foot from a traffic stop on Aug. 15.
Womack said that when he was pulled over he was not speeding or driving under the influence. His driver’s license, insurance, and registration were all in order, Womack says.
“When the first officer turned his lights on, I pulled over and complied … exactly as you’re supposed to,” Womack said in a statement. “But when three additional vehicles pulled up quickly and started to surround my car, I freaked out. That’s when I took off, it was a ‘fight or flight’ moment and I was going to live,” he said. “I felt like I was in danger. This was out in the country, late at night, and it was dark. So I ran for my life. That’s what you see in the dashcam video. I’m running in an open field, and I’m scared.”
Womack’s attorneys released dashcam footage of the incident, which was from a Pratt County Sheriff’s car involved in the incident, to the public on Dec. 17.
In the video, Rodriguez drove after a shirtless Womack, who was running through a dirt field. The deputy swerved into Womack, knocking him down, then drove over him with a left tire of the vehicle. Womack’s body rolled out from under the patrol truck, then the deputy got out and restrained him.
Womack, who had left the KCKPD earlier that month, was heading home from a business trip in California when troopers attempted to pull him over. The Kansas Highway Patrol says Womack’s encounter with law enforcement that evening began with a speeding infraction and escalated in a manner described by local station Fox4KC:
The chase started in Reno County where a trooper clocked Womack at 101 mph in 55 mph zone. That trooper reported that by the time he got turned around, he again clocked Womack at 120 mph in a 55 mph zone and his speeds eventually exceeded 140 mph. The chase was called off for safety reasons, according to KHP.
Twenty minutes later, the Pratt County Sheriff’s Office began pursuing Womack again. This time the chase went through a few counties before it ended in Kiowa County where Pratt County sheriff’s deputies arrested Womack, according to highway patrol.
After the pursuit ended in a field, a trooper arrived on the scene once Womack had already been apprehended.
He suffered injuries to his back, pelvis and thigh, and to his right knee, ankle and foot.
Womack’s attorney Michael Kuckelman urged Kiowa County Sheriff Chris Tedder to fire Rodriguez, but he has refused.
Womack remains behind bars for attempting to elude a law enforcement officer by engaging in reckless driving and interference with a law enforcement officer, both felony charges.
“To me it showed a blatant disregard for human life,” said Zee Womack, Womack’s wife, after watching the footage on the incident. She is a police officer with KCKPD as is his mother.
Zee Womack said her husband is still in jail because of a separate incident of eluding the police that occurred in Oklahoma on Aug 12. Lionel Womack was extradited to Guymon, Oklahoma, on Dec. 17.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said it didn’t find out about the incident until September. The bureau offered to help the sheriff’s office investigate the matter but the office declined.
After reviewing footage of the encounter on Thursday, KBI announced it would review the case alongside the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.
Womack said he believes officers must be held accountable. “These rogue law enforcement officers give a bad name to the good officers, and we have to stop them,” he said. “I never imagined that I would someday be the victim of excessive force by a fellow law enforcement officer. He could have easily killed me.”
