CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Cleveland man accused Shaker Heights police of using a stun gun and releasing a police dog on him, even though he posed no threat to the officers.
Don Baker, 55, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Cleveland against the police department and several officers over the Jan. 30, 2022, incident. It alleged excessive force and civil-rights violations.
Baker said in the lawsuit, filed by attorney Sean Burke, that he never threatened the officers and had no weapons at the time of his arrest.
Prosecutors charged Baker, who court records say now lives in Ravenna, with obstructing official business, resisting arrest, menacing and drunken driving, all misdemeanors. In court records, prosecutors wrote that Baker refused to get out of his car and disobeyed police orders.
He pleaded not guilty, and his trial is scheduled for May 4 in Shaker Heights Municipal Court.
Shaker Heights has not released body camera of the video, a month and a half after cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer requested it. A police report the city released contains a one-sentence narrative, an apparent violation of Ohio’s open records laws and a recent Ohio Supreme Court decision.
Shaker Heights officials did not return messages seeking comment and have not responded to the recently filed lawsuit in court.
The lawsuit said Baker was asleep in his car when Shaker Heights officers Caleb Barnett and David Emlaw pulled up behind his car.
Baker couldn’t immediately find his driver’s license, and the officers ordered him to get out of his car. The officers grabbed Baker and yanked him from the car when he struggled getting out, according to the lawsuit.
Barnett then “unnecessarily” used his stun gun on Baker’s chest, the lawsuit said.
Once Baker was face down on the ground, Emlaw released the police dog, which bit Baker’s arm.
Baker never posed a threat to the officers during the interaction, the filing said.
Baker needed stitches to repair the damage from the dog bite, according to the lawsuit. He suffered “severe and permanent injuries” to his arm, the lawsuit said, without elaborating.
Adam Ferrise covers federal courts at cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. You can find his work here.
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