A homeless man in San Diego has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing a San Diego Police officer of brutalizing him during an encounter last year while other officers stood by and failed to intervene.
Cleo Barry was “peacefully situated” on a street near San Diego City College on Aug. 15, 2024, when Officer Rogelio Medina and three other officers approached him, a day after Medina had issued Barry a citation for unlawful camping, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on Sept. 19 and obtained by Atlanta Black Star.
Barry defensively warned Medina not to touch him, the lawsuit says, because a year earlier, during a prior arrest for unlawful camping, Medina had attacked him and broken his shoulder.
“I’m not done with you,” Medina allegedly said while putting on a pair of gloves. Then another officer arrested Barry’s friend Mary Stephens, with no lawful justification, the complaint contends, putting her in the back of a patrol car “for the purpose of removing a witness from the scene.”
Medina then handcuffed Barry while refusing to tell him why he was being arrested, the lawsuit says. Barry says he complied and did not resist.
One of the officers allegedly asked Medina if his body-worn camera was recording, and Medina indicated it wasn’t. The lawsuit claims none of the SDPD officers activated their cameras, in violation of department policy.
“It is our understanding that the SDPD officers even coordinated to switch off their body-worn cameras to deliberately conceal the assault,” Medina’s attorney Adanté Pointer said in an emailed statement to Atlanta Black Star.
Medina then, unprovoked, choked Barry with his left hand and punched him in the face three or four times with a closed right fist, breaking his nose and causing blood to splatter onto the sidewalk, which Stephens was able to see from inside the patrol car, the complaint says.
Medina slammed Barry down to the pavement, fracturing his right shoulder, then kneed him in his upper back while punching him in the head several times, while Barry remained face-down and handcuffed, the lawsuit claims.
The three officers stood by and watched Medina’s violent conduct, ignoring their duty to intervene in his use of excessive force, and “effectively encouraging and enabling the brutal assault.”
Barry was transported by San Diego Fire Department paramedics who responded to the scene to the University of California San Diego Medical Center, over the objections of Medina, who wanted him taken directly to jail, the lawsuit says.
Barry received medical care and was determined to have suffered a broken nose, a dislocated and broken shoulder, and soft tissue injuries, including ligament damage to his right knee and abrasions to his back, knees, and face. He also suffered severe emotional distress, his attorneys claim.
The lawsuit accuses the City of San Diego, Medina, and other unnamed San Diego Police Department (SDPD) officers of excessive force, failure to intervene, conspiracy to violate civil rights, battery and negligence in violation of federal and state law.
Barry never posed a threat, resisted or attempted to flee, and the officers had no legal justification to use or to permit the “egregious” level of force applied by Medina, “in conscious disregard for his civil rights, safety, health and well-being,” the lawsuit says.
It notes that no charges were ever filed against Barry related to the encounter of Aug. 15, 2024, and that he was cited only for the alleged unlawful homeless encampment of the day before.
The lawsuit also claims the City of San Diego fails to properly train its officers in the lawful use of force, fails to supervise and discipline its officers, and encourages them to deactivate or avoid using body-worn cameras, “fostering a culture of impunity where officers believe excessive force may be used without consequence.”
Last week the City of San Diego agreed to pay $875,000 to settle another federal civil rights lawsuit filed against the city and nearly two dozen SDPD police officers by a man who was unarmed, shirtless and barefoot and sitting on a retaining wall with his hands in the air when police officers shot him with multiple beanbag rounds and twice sicced a police dog on him, the San Diego Tribune reported.
Plaintiff Marcus Evans was seriously injured during that encounter outside a home last October, which was captured on camera by a freelance news videographer, and remains under investigation by the San Diego Police internal affairs department.
Barry seeks a jury trial to determine and award unspecified general, special, statutory and punitive damages and legal costs.
“This case is about holding the San Diego Police Department accountable for the brutal beating of a man who was handcuffed, compliant, and posed no threat,” Pointer said. “Mr. Barry was unhoused and among the most vulnerable members of the San Diego community. SDPD officers took advantage of that vulnerability when they targeted someone they thought had no voice to fight back.”
The defendants have 21 days after being served with the complaint, or until Oct. 10, to file a response.
A spokesperson for the City of San Diego declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. The San Diego Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Atlanta Black Star.
