Wichita officers wrongly shot passenger in chase, lawsuit says

A man claiming that two Wichita police officers wrongly shot him when he was a passenger in a car during a chase in 2015 has sued the city and a former police chief.

The lawsuit by Jeff Lloyd Smith contends that officers shot him multiple times and then beat him when he was unarmed, not trying to flee, not threatening officers and not breaking any law. The use of force was “excessive,” it violated department policy and it was “reckless ... and grossly negligent,” the lawsuit says.

The litigation was filed in Sedgwick County District Court earlier this month and seeks the standard amount at this point – “in excess of” $75,000. It requests a trial by jury.

The lawsuit names as defendants the city and former Police Chief Nelson Mosley. It says they were negligent. Mosley failed to make sure that the officers had proper training in use of deadly force and failed to punish them, and the city is liable for the two unidentified officers, the lawsuit says.

Police spokeswoman Sgt. Nikki Woodrow said Monday she couldn’t comment on ongoing litigation. Smith’s attorney, Mark Schoenhofer, couldn’t be reached for comment on Monday.

The shooting occurred early in the morning of May 4, 2015, in an alley between Wichita and Water streets south of Osie. Police said hours after the shooting that three officers fired on a driver at relatively close range, critically wounding him, because he backed up toward them during a chase that ended in the alley.

Police said they pursued the white Chrysler Sebring because it matched the description of a stolen vehicle.

According to police then, after the original driver fled from the car in the alley, the 45-year-old passenger moved to the driver’s seat. The car then went in reverse toward an officer, striking an iron fence and “putting the officer at risk,” an Eagle article quoted police.

Police said the officers didn’t have body cameras.

The lawsuit gives a different account: Smith was a passenger in a car driven by a person “known only as ‘Skip.’” Smith repeatedly asked Skip to stop during the chase. Skip jumped from the car while it was moving.

Smith “tried to stop the car while still seated in the passenger seat” by “throwing his left leg over the console to apply the brakes” while still in the seat belt, the lawsuit says.

Officers approaching the car with guns drawn fired on Smith. The bullets hit Smith in the abdomen, thigh, groin, finger and hand, the lawsuit says. Officers then pulled Smith from the car and beat him, it says.

Among other things, the injuries caused Smith to suffer anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder and “scarring and disfigurement,” along with pain and medical bills, the lawsuit says.

This story was originally published May 8, 2017 at 2:11 PM with the headline "Wichita officers wrongly shot passenger in chase, lawsuit says."