San Jose man sues Mountain View for 10 million after police force him out car window

(Michael Förtsch/Unsplash)

(SAN JOSE, Calif.) A San Jose man has filed a lawsuit against the city of Mountain View, alleging police officers used excessive force by dragging him out of a car window in 2019.

Mario Edgardo Melendez claims that officer Benjamin Kroutil forcefully grabbed him and pulled him out of his car through an open window, causing him injuries, according to Mountain View Voice.

Melendez is seeking $10 million for compensatory and punitive damages.

According to the lawsuit, officers had no reason to suspect criminal wrongdoing when they arrested Melendez. He was taken into custody on charges of resisting a police officer, which were later dropped.

The incident happened in July 2019 around 2:25 a.m, when Melendez was inside his car waiting for it to warm up. Kroutil parked behind him and waited several minutes before approaching Melendez's vehicle.

Kroutil scanned Melendez's license plate and it came back clean. After he asked Melendez for identification and Melendez refused to hand over identification stating that he had done nothing wrong.

During the confrontation, Melendez asked multiple times for Kroutil's supervisor, according to the lawsuit, and Kroutil said he would arrest Melendez and take him to jail for continuing to delay the investigation.

Both the police report and lawsuit contradict. According to the police report, Kroutil and fellow officers had removed Melendez through his window in a "controlled manner," setting him on the ground. According to the lawsuit, Kroutil and a second officer grabbed Melendez's hand before violently pulling him out of the car.

Melendez fell into the road, slamming his face and body on the ground and suffered injuries to his head, left eye, shoulder and chest. He also suffered a concussion after hitting the ground.

"The actions by said defendants were committed maliciously and oppressively, and constituted despicable conduct sufficient for an award of punitive (and) exemplary damages against all defendants," the lawsuit states.

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