An African-American business owner has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Decatur, Alabama, and a member of the city’s police department. The claim alleges the officer used “excessive force” during an incident in 2020 at his liquor store and the city took too long to reprimand the cop after being notified.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Kevin Penn, the proprietor of Star Spirits & Beverages, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama on March 11, 2022. It names Officer Justin Rippen and the city as defendants in a case stemming from the altercation two years earlier.
According to a lawsuit obtained by Atlanta Black Star, on March 15, 2020, Penn stopped a man from shoplifting from his store and detained him at gunpoint as he called 911, hoping the man would be arrested for attempting to steal from his shop.
When the police arrived at his property, the document alleges Penn “waved the officers in and unlocked the front door,” for them to enter.
It was at this time, the business owner “removed the clip from his gun and put the gun on the counter,” while the officers placed under arrest the perpetrator Penn had called them for.
However, after the shoplifter was in their custody, the officers approached Penn with their guns drawn, despite knowing he was the owner of the store and could see his “gun on the counter.”
“The officers yelled at Penn about the gun,” the filing stated.
In response to their yelling, Penn told them the gun was already down, but also communicated that he was going to “file a complaint” on them for their conduct.
Rippen heard his threat and pushed through his fellow officers and “punched Penn in the face, breaking Penn’s jaw and causing him to lose a tooth.”
After the assault, which was captured by surveillance video and police bodycam, Rippen arrested the Black man and “charged him with obstructing governmental operations, though there was not probable cause for the arrest.”
The lawsuit says that the business owner was arrested “without reasonable suspicion … thereby depriving him of his rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Specifically, Rippen violated Penn’s right to be free from unlawful seizure.”
Adding, Rippen “acted with malice or reckless indifference to Penn’s constitutional rights.”
Penn would make good on his threat and filed a complaint with the city against the officer. Yet, according to the lawsuit, “The City refused to investigate the incident” and “Rippen was not disciplined.”
He later filed more complaints accusing the officer of “misconduct, including a baseless stop and illegal search subsequent to this incident,” and Penn alleges that like the previous one, these were also ignored.
The lawsuit document submits this is commonplace for the city to “receive complaints from citizens regarding officer misconduct in violation of constitutional rights and regularly ignores them,” identifying the complaint against Rippen as an example.
In June 2020, months after the incident, Decatur’s former Police Chief Nate Allen finally spoke out about the altercation after videos started to be released on social media, the Decatur Daily reports.
At a press conference, he sided with Rippen, saying that before Penn was punched the officer observed him reloading his firearm.
Allen said two years ago, “We do know there was a gun there, we do know the magazines were there, we do know that he was reloading the magazine.”
Police bodycam video show the officers and the store owner, next to the counter where the gun was placed. After the officers told him to put his weapon down, Penn informed him of his right to have a gun.
The chief asserted Penn’s response made Rippen believe he was armed, prompting him to strike him. After the man was punched, the other officers wrestled him down and arrested him.
Once the store’s surveillance video went viral showing a different story, on or about June 8, 2020, the city was prompted to place Rippen on administrative duty.
A month later, Allen would return with a statement and say to the public after a departmental investigation the officer “has been dealt with.”
“This very case presents a prime example as it was only the public release of video footage from one of Penn’s surveillance cameras that caused the city to even pretend like it was investigating the matter,” the lawsuit states. “The city’s policymakers did not criticize Rippen’s assault of Penn or Rippen’s arrest of Penn.”
Councilman Billy Jackson did call for the officer to be terminated, but only after seeing the surveillance video.
Penn was charged with misdemeanor obstruction of governmental operations on the day of the incident, a count that he still has not gone to court for.
Attorneys claim in the filing, within the legal community Decatur police officers are known to frequently charge citizens, like Penn, with “obstructing governmental operations, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.” They call these counts “POP (piss off police) charges, without a legal basis.”
Further, Penn believes officers are not properly trained on the limitations of their own authority and because of that, “are likely to violate the constitutional rules.” He says this is the city’s responsibility.
Mayor Tab Bowling noted he was unhappy about the lawsuit being filed but referred questions to his legal department, the Decatur Daily reports.
As of Thursday, March 17, Decatur’s City Attorney Herman Marks said his department had not yet received the document to review, and they were not commenting on it until then.
As a result of Rippen’s “malice or reckless indifference to Penn’s constitutional rights,” the Decatur native says he has experienced physical and emotional injuries and damages that resulted in him having his jaw wired shut for six weeks.
Penn wants a jury to decide compensation for medical bills and punitive damages, be “awarded prejudgment and postjudgment interest at the highest rates allowed by law.”
Also, the shop owner wants his attorney’s fees and expert fees to be met by the city and Rippen.
