A federal lawsuit was filed Monday against a Lake Worth police officer, accusing him of using excessive force by running over an unarmed man with a sport utility vehicle during a foot pursuit in November 2020.
Dustin Bates of Denton County suffered three fractured ribs, a broken right leg and a fractured spine in the incident, video of which was captured on the officer's dash camera.
The lawsuit identified the Lake Worth officer as Jonathan Granado.
Lake Worth police could not be reached Monday for comment on the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District in Texas in Fort Worth.
Bates was riding a motorcycle on Nov. 23, 2020, in Lake Worth when Granado pulled in behind him and radioed that he could not see Bates' license plate.
Seconds later, Granado gave the license plate number to dispatch, and determined it did not match the motorcycle Bates was driving, according to the lawsuit.
Granado turned on his overhead lights, signaling he was pulling over Bates for a traffic stop because of the license plate issue.
Bates did not pull over, and he accelerated and drove away from the Lake Worth officer.
After a brief pursuit, Bates exited the highway, but he lost control of the motorcycle, which then went down in a grassy area.
Bates stood up and then began to run into a field as he saw the Lake Worth officer approaching at a high rate of speed.
According to the lawsuit, Bates was moving to get out of the way of Granado's vehicle.
Granado's dash camera video showed that Bates ran across a road into a field. and Granado turned his vehicle into the field as he began to track Bates.
Several images from the dash camera showed Granado driving toward Bates.
According to a Grand Prairie Police Department investigation into the incident, Granado was driving about 45 mph when he hit Bates' back with the SUV.
Granado stopped after striking Bates.
The squeal of Granado's brakes can be heard only after he ran over Bates, according to the lawsuit.
Charges against Bates related to the incident were dismissed in August.
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