A dispute over a booted car in a restaurant parking lot in Atlanta has led to a civil lawsuit after an overzealous security guard allegedly punched a man in the face while clenching a pair of handcuffs.
Christopher Bennett was leaving Sea Salt Seafood Kitchen in the heart of Atlanta’s affluent Virginia-Highland neighborhood with a group of 15 friends and business associates on Oct. 21, 2021, around 2 a.m. One of his friends returned to their car parked in a lot across the street and found it immobilized by the dreaded boot, according to his lawsuit filed in Fulton County State Court on July 13 and obtained by Atlanta Black Star.
The fee was paid to remove the boot, but a dispute soon arose between an employee of the parking enforcement company who arrived to remove it and members of the Bennett’s group, the complaint says.
After declining to remove the boot, the employee allegedly threatened to pull out a weapon and then drove to a corner of the parking lot. The woman whose car had been booted and two other people in the group walked toward the employee’s vehicle.
They “wanted only to have the boot removed and go home,” the complaint says.
The Hit That Changed It All
At that point, defendant Keith Torick, a local college campus police officer who was working as an off-duty security assignment for Sea Salt, got in his personal vehicle equipped with blue and white lights, activated the lights, and drove over to the parking lot where Bennett’s group was standing.
He got out of his vehicle and began issuing commands to the group and told the woman whose car was booted that she was under arrest, the lawsuit says.
When Bennett approached Torick and asked why his friend was being arrested, Torick told him to back away or that he would also be arrested.
Bennett “complied immediately,” the lawsuit says, walking away with his empty hands raised above his head, displaying no aggressive behavior, and posing no threat to Torick. He claims he “did not strike, threaten or resist” the security guard.
Without warning, Torick allegedly advanced toward Bennett and struck him across the face and jaw with a pair of handcuffs clenched in his hand. Bennett asserts that he did not retaliate, and that the blow caused visible swelling.
Torick sent a call for help over Atlanta Police radio indicating that an officer needed assistance, then canceled that call, the lawsuit says.
The incident was not recorded on body-worn camera, but it was captured on the phone of a bystander and nearby surveillance cameras, the complaint says.
Atlanta Black Star has reached out to receive that footage and is waiting to hear back.
Video Doesn’t Lie
Bennett reported the incident to Atlanta Police later that day, and Officer Cody Boydston interviewed him and reviewed video footage Bennett provided that allegedly showed Torick approaching and striking him across the jaw with handcuffs. A crime scene technician responded to the scene and photographed his injuries.
The Atlanta Police Department classified the incident as simple assault and identified the handcuffs as the weapon or force involved, the lawsuit says. APD notified Torick’s employer, Atlanta Metropolitan State College Police Department, about the episode.
Four days later, the college police department opened an internal use-of-force investigation into the incident, as did the FBI at the college’s request, the complaint says.
Surveillance footage from a nearby restaurant captured the violent encounter from multiple angles and allegedly corroborated Bennett’s account that he was not threatening Torick and had his hands raised when he was struck.
Torick was fired from his position with Atlanta Metropolitan State College Police Department on Nov. 12, 2021. His termination papers state that he was dismissed for a policy violation arising from his use of force against Bennett, which was determined “not to be objectively reasonable,” the lawsuit says.
A Liability
The complaint contends that, as a reserve police officer, Torick had no legal authority to detain or arrest anyone more than 500 yards outside of the college campus where he was employed as a police officer. The restaurant parking lot is 7.7 miles from that campus.
It accuses Sea Salt of being vicariously liable for Bennett’s violent actions and of negligently hiring, retaining, and supervising him without investigating his disciplinary history. The complaint alleges that Torick was fired from the Kennesaw Police Department and laid off from the Braswell Police Department but does not specify any known disciplinary infractions by him at either department.
“Defendant Sea Salt breached its duty by failing to ensure that adequate safeguards, training and supervision governed Defendant Torick’s use of force while working on its behalf,” the lawsuit says.
Besides being liable for his use of excessive force, the complaint says Sea Salt breached its duty by “failing to ensure that Torick acted within the bounds of his lawful authority and jurisdiction while performing his security assignment.”
The restaurant also “failed to keep its premises and approaches safe” for invitees and members of the public, including Bennett, the lawsuit says, including in how it selected and supervised the conduct of armed security personnel.
‘About More Than a Single Blow’
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial to determine compensatory damages for physical injury, pain and suffering, emotional distress, lost wages and earning capacity, and medical expenses, as well as punitive damages.
“This case is about more than a single blow,” attorney Candace Atlas of Davis Bozeman Law, a Black-owned law firm in Georgia specializing in personal injury and civil rights cases, said in a statement.
“Businesses that choose to employ security officers have a legal responsibility to ensure those officers are properly vetted, appropriately supervised, and do not unnecessarily endanger the public. Our client complied with every command given to him yet was still violently struck.”
Repeated Patterns
The Davis Bozeman firm is also representing the family of Geronne Avery, a 32-year-old Atlanta man who died after he was shot outside the Magic City strip club in southwest Atlanta in May 2024 by a security guard who was an off-duty Spelman College police officer.
The security guard, who was never charged, told police he heard gunfire outside the club and saw Avery holding a gun, reported Atlanta News First. He said he shot Avery after he refused to put down the firearm. Avery’s family insisted he had just been the victim of an attempted robbery and wasn’t a threat when he was killed. Their wrongful death lawsuit was filed in April 2026.
“I think with these lawsuits we’re just trying to make these businesses understand that when you’re hiring security personnel and putting people out here to supposedly secure your premises and the surrounding area, that they’re properly trained and supervised, because it could lead to some violent consequences,” said Mawuli Davis, an attorney representing plaintiffs in both lawsuits.
“So, in the case of Geronne Avery, it led to his death, and here it led to a physical assault.”
Sea Salt Seafood Kitchen, Atlanta Metropolitan College State Police Department and Torick did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Atlanta Black Star.
The defendants have 30 days after being served to file a response in Fulton County State Court. Court records indicate they were served on July 16.
