SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — Southfield police are facing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit as a result of an arrest last month that's being labeled police misconduct.
The arrest happened on April 5. Police say they were sent to a home in the 24000 block of Mulberry around 8 a.m. after callers there say a man allegedly knocked his mother unconscious and vandalized a neighbor's car.
At a Thursday press conference, Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren released bodycam video of the incident. He says he's standing behind his officers' actions that morning.
"I run a very tight ship here at this police department so if there’s any type of misconduct, I will deal with it. The same way I deal with misconduct when we right. I will deal with it when we wrong," said Barren.
The body camera video compilation begins with police officers driving down nearby Valley View Street where they catch up with 27-year-old Clint Willis. A female officer gets out of her car, approaches Willis, and asks him to take his hands out of his pockets several times.
Willis seemingly asks the officer to "please move" before he counts aloud to three, appears to lunge at the officer, and throws a punch. Southfield police say the officer sustained a significant laceration to her right eye. The officer can be seen bleeding throughout the remainder of the body camera clip.
After the punch, video shows officers tackle Willis and hold him on the ground for several minutes before he’s placed in the back of a squad car and taken to the Southfield jail. Police showed this interaction from several officer body camera perspectives Thursday.
The police say after Willis was taken to jail, he was processed without incident for more than a half hour, answering officers' questions and cooperating. Police say when security officers with Allied Universal, a company hired by the city to oversee operations at the jail, tried to put Willis into his cell, he squared off with one officer and physically resisted going into the cell.
Video shows it took officers two attempts before they could close his cell door. During the attempts, video appears to show officers slamming/restraining Willis onto a cell bed, but the 27-year-old quickly gets up and makes a dash toward the door after being restrained both times.
It's then that Willis walks to the back of the cell and runs full speed at the plexiglass. Officers say he ran at the glass head first and falls onto the ground. Police say the officers call for a supervisor and then take Willis to the hospital in a neck brace.
"In this case, I stand with my officers. I do stand with Allied Universal as well. They conducted themselves as best they could under the circumstances. This is just unfortunate," said Barren.
Police say there were two calls made to dispatch regarding the incident. Chief Barren says in the first call family of Willis did not disclose mental health concerns, but did mention it in a second call. Barren says officers who initially responded were not made aware of Willis' mental health issues until after the fact.
Chief Barren also says following the arrest, officers learned Willis had been discharged from a mental health facility of some kind earlier in the day. Barren says it would not have changed officers' response.
Attorney Michael Fortner, who is representing Willis, says his client broke his neck and will need lifelong care as a result officers' actions on April 5.
Fortner was not available for an on-camera interview Thursday but sent the following statement:
The Willis Family is very concerned about the Southfield Police Department’s portrayal of the arrest of their son and brother, resulting in his paralysis, due to a broken neck.
The family called the police and explained to them that Mr. Willis was having a mental health crisis and that he needed help for his safety.
At no time has the Southfield Police Department explained how or when Mr. Willis’ neck was broken or why he was taken to the police department instead of a mental health facility or hospital.
Despite multiple requests, the Southfield Police Department has refused to turn over the footage from the body cameras, car cameras, or jail camera to the family or Mr. Willis’ attorneys.
At this time, Mr. Willis is paralyzed from the neck down, and is unable to feed himself, walk, or even answer a telephone.
The family will provide more information on Sunday May 23, 2023 at 4:00 PM at the Southfield Police Department at their scheduled press conference.
Fortner says they're asking for $20 million to help pay for the lifelong care Willis will now require.
Police say attornies for Willis requested information from the arrest via the Freedom of Information Act but have yet to retrieve the documents from the police department. Chief Barren says he wanted to hold the Thursday press conference to maintain transparency and counter disinformation and potential calls for protests being spread on social media in relation to the incident.
"This country, this city, we all dealing with the same issues of mental health concerns and that does not automatically make a trip to any type of mental health facility, but rather observations of that person's behavior," said Barren.
Willis is facing charges for malicious destruction of property, domestic violence, and assault on a police officer.
