An Ohio man is suing officers in Kentucky, claiming that he was falsely arrested after police believed he stole his own car.
Henry Lee Sanders III, who is represented by The Kemper Law Office, filed the lawsuit against members of the Florence Police Department. It alleges that the officers used excessive force and brutality against him during a traffic stop.
According to a complaint and his attorneys, Sanders was ordered to pull over near Burlington Pike and Utz Avenue in Boone County on Nov. 11, 2022. Officer James Wilbers is said to have believed that Sanders’ car was stolen.
More than three years earlier, Sanders had reported his 1996 blue Ford Crown Victoria stolen from outside of his Cincinnati home on April 18, 2019. Police found the car in the nearby suburb of Newport, Kentucky, the same day. A Cincinnati Police Department incident report shows that when Sanders recovered the car, it was missing one thing: its front license plate, Ohio GYR6482.
During the 2022 traffic stop in Florence, Kentucky, Wilbers is accused of pulling out his gun, yelling “loudly,” and handcuffing Sanders “on the side of the road,” per the filing viewed by Atlanta Black Star. Three other officers, identified as Kelli Chapman, D.J. Hutcherson, and Patrick Taylor, arrived at the scene where Sanders was being detained.
“The Florence Police Department is composed of the individuals who failed to correct the record that the car was no longer stolen since the victim on the stolen vehicle report, Henry Sanders, was the individual driving the car,” the November 2023 filing stated. “When Henry complied with officers’ demands that he exit the vehicle, he was handcuffed and interrogated without being Mirandized.”
The lawsuit noted the officers went through the database, which showed that the vehicle was indeed recovered. However, the Florence police report shows he was still arrested on charges of second-degree disorderly conduct and a charge of driving with a stolen license plate — Ohio plate GYR6482. Florence dispatchers had reported the plate as stolen to the officers detaining Sanders.
According to a police report, Sanders was transported to the local jail, and his 1996 Ford Crown Victoria was towed. Although Boone County, Kentucky, prosecutors later dismissed all charges against Sanders, his lawyers argued that their client was wrongfully prosecuted and his civil rights were violated. The lawsuit is seeking punitive and compensatory relief.
Sanders, unable to afford impound fees to recover his car, never got it back, his attorneys say.
“The case, which we are pushing to be tried by a jury, is a stark reminder of the importance of accountability in law enforcement. We stand firm in our belief that the officers and the police department must be held responsible for their actions,” the Kemper Law Office said in a statement.
