TACOMA, Wash. — Two lawsuits have been filed against the City of Tacoma and officers approximately three years after a police officer drove through a crowd at a street race
A Tacoma man sued the city saying the incident left him with "catastrophic bodily injuries," according to a complaint filed Monday on his behalf in a Pierce County Superior Court.
Tacoma City Councilmember Jamika Scott filed a federal lawsuit Monday claiming she was unlawfully arrested in the aftermath of the incident.
The incident at the center of the lawsuit was captured on video and garnered attention on social media. After a year-long investigation into the incident, the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney announced the officer who drove through the crowd, identified as 58-year-old Khan Phan, a 30-year-veteran of the department, would not face charges. The Pierce County Force Investigation Team (PCFIT) determined Phan's use of force was justified.
The Pierce County suit alleges that the plaintiff, Anthony Huff-McKay, was a pedestrian at a "car meet" in Tacoma when a crowd of people responded to the arrival of Phan and another officer at the event. Upon observing the crowd, the suit alleges Phan "panicked" and drove through the intersection, running over Huff-McKay with his patrol car. Huff-McKay said he suffered catastrophic bodily injuries, including broken ribs, a partially collapsed lung, a torn ACL, a torn meniscus, and wounds to his abdomen, feet, and hands.
The suit alleges that Phan's conduct was "highly reckless, grossly negligent, legally unjustifiable and constituted both excessive and deadly force," among other claims.
Huff-McKay's attorney, Austin Neff, said in a release, "This case is a stark reminder of the grave consequences of inadequate police training and accountability. It’s a situation where a public servant, sworn to protect, instead inflicted harm on those he was duty-bound to protect.”
Scott's lawsuit alleges police unlawfully arrested Scott while she filmed the aftermath of the incident from behind police tape. Scott, who was not a city council member at the time of the incident, said she arrived at the scene to publicly oversee the police's investigation of the incident.
About three hours after Phan drove through the crowd, Scott said onlookers were "peacefully observing" as police investigated the scene. Officers tried to create a larger perimeter but the onlookers would not move, saying it would obstruct their view of the investigation.
Police reports say the onlookers were "screaming obscenities at us and taunting us while they videotaped us," according to the lawsuit.
Scott said police crossed the perimeter and "zeroed in" on Scott, who was filming with her cellphone. She said an officer shoved her and smacked her phone out of her hand before she was "forced" against a tall curb next to a stormwater trench. Scott stumbled and claimed officers pinned her to the ground.
Scott was handcuffed and jailed. No charges were filed.
"I'm looking for this to be a catalyst for conversation," Scott told KING 5. "I am looking for this to be something that we can look at and say, alright, here’s where we went wrong, we can choose now to identify that, make amends for it, and move forward doing better. Or, we can continue to just deny, deny, deny, deny that it happened, deny an apology, deny validation, whatever it is, and we can continue the us vs. them mentality that we are wll suffering from.”
The incident occurred after Tacoma police responded to reports of a large crowd gathered in the area of South Ninth Street and Pacific Avenue on the evening of Jan. 23, 2021. Witness accounts and videos posted on social media showed a group gathered for a street racing event. According to PCFIT's report, when officers arrived, one spectator began waving his arms and shouting "block the cops," at which point a crowd surrounded the patrol car and began "beating on the windows, kicking the car, rocking the car and yelling profanities at the officer."
Phan told investigators that he was unable to back up due to a crowd that had formed behind his patrol car. Phan said he saw and heard what appeared to be a glass bottle with liquid breaking against his left passenger side window. He recalled thinking the bottle was a Molotov cocktail that would ignite and cause his fuel tank to catch fire, according to the investigation.
Phan believed there was a small opening in front of his patrol car, so he drove forward slowly, knocking down several pedestrians.
A report compiled by PCFIT cites video footage taken by Huff-McKay showing him moving in front of Phan's patrol vehicle, shouting "block the cops," and telling others to gather around before he was run over.
The lawsuits request damages to be paid in an amount to be proven at trial, as well as reasonable costs and attorney fees.
A spokesperson for the City of Tacoma said they were not aware of the city being served Huff-McKay's lawsuit. However, the city does not comment on pending litigation.