A 28-year-old black man who suffers from multiple mental health disorders spent five months in prison for 'assaulting' two white O...
A 28-year-old black man who suffers from multiple mental health disorders spent five months in prison for 'assaulting' two white Ohio cops before bodycam footage revealed that the officers beat, tased and taunted him during a January arrest.
Kenta Settles, who has been diagnosed with bipolar and schizophrenia disorders, was arrested on January 23 in Garfield Heights, Ohio, while walking down an icy sidewalk along Turney Road.
In bodycam videos obtained by Cleveland.com, Garfield Heights officers Michael Malak and Robert Pitts are seen stopping Settles, who appeared confused about why the cops were approaching him to begin with. Settles didn't appear to be committing a crime when he was stopped.
'Come here, come here. You're being detained,' one of the officers is heard telling Settles, who responds: 'What's going on?'
Within a matter of seconds, Settles goes from putting his hands on the patrol car to being hurled to the ground by the officers.
He's seen curled into the fetal position as one officer punches him and another deploys a taser.
Settles cries out in pain as his body convulses after being tased. The officers are then heard screaming at him to 'roll on your stomach'.
Kenta Settles, 28, spent five months in prison for 'assaulting' two white Ohio cops before bodycam footage revealed that the officers beat and tased him during his arrest. Officers are seen on top of Settles during the January 23 arrest
Settles, who has been diagnosed with bipolar and schizophrenia disorders, was arrested in Garfield Heights, Ohio, while walking down an icy sidewalk along Turney Road. It's unclear why he was arrested but authorities said a robbery had been committed in the area
Officers are heard yelling for Settles to 'stop resisting', but Settles responds: 'I'm not!'
Another angle of the video shows more police officers at the scene as they work to handcuff Settles.
None of the footage clearly shows Settles striking any of the officers, but Malak somehow ended up with a bloody nose.
In another clip, Settles apparently begins crying while lying face-down on the sidewalk.
'Are you crying? All poor baby you shouldn't f**king hit cops you a**hole,' Malak tells Settles.
When they finally picked a handcuffed Settles off the ground he tells the officers: 'I hope y'all had fun tonight.'
Another officer responds: 'This isn't our idea of fun.'
'Confused the f**k out of me. I was like what the f**k,' Settles said, referring to the cops approaching him while he was walking down the street. 'Do me like that out of nowhere. Was that fair?'
The same officer told Settles: 'All you had to do was stop and talk to us and none of this would've ever happened.'
Settles then said: 'You didn't ask me to talk.'
According to Cleveland.com, the incident left Malak with a broken nose and Settles with a chipped tooth, a rotator cuff injury and a gash near his eye.
Settles was charged with assaulting a peace officer and obstructing official business and indicted by a judge seven days later. He was held on a $250,000 bond.
In another clip, Settles apparently begins crying. 'Are you crying? All poor baby you shouldn't f**king hit cops you a**hole,' Malak tells Settles (center)
Settles is seen asking the officers if it was fair for them to treat him the way they did during the arrest
Settles remained behind bars for nearly five months before videos of the incident were released.
He was released from jail on June 8 after a judge granted him a personal bond.
On Thursday, Settles filed a lawsuit accusing Malak, Pitts and three other Garfield Heights officers of using excessive force against him and violating his constitutional rights.
According to Cleveland.com, the Garfield Heights police officers involved in the arrest were cleared two weeks after Settles was indicted following an internal investigation that blamed Settles.
Settles alleges in the lawsuit that he had taken a bus to Garfield Heights from Cleveland.
He said he was in the area because he was on his way to visit his brother to borrow a pair of hair clippers to give his son a haircut ahead of his birthday.
On the way to his brother's house, Settles decided to stop by CVS on Turney Road so he could fill a prescription, according to his attorney Jeremy Tor.
According to the complaint, Settles decided to walk through the drive-thru because the main entrance of the store appeared to be closed.
He stood there for a few minutes waiting to be helped, eventually realizing that he looked out of place.
The lawsuit claims that he walked over to a car that was waiting in the drive thru to let them know that he was trying to pick up a prescription.
The man told Settles he had a gun, so he left without getting his medication.
Garfield Heights Police Chief Robert Byrne told Cleveland.com that the officers had then responded to a call about a man trying to pull another man out of his car.
Byrne also said that an armed robbery had been reported near the same CVS more than an hour earlier. Authorities did not release the description of the robbery suspect.
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