Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse in Tampa, Fla.
TAMPA, Fla. – A wrongful death lawsuit against Florida cops portrays them as thrilled to use their new taser on a man experiencing a mental-health crisis then leaving him face-down to die.
The Estate of Breonte Lamar Johnson-Davis, Sr., sued the cities of Palmetto and Bradenton, among others, on Oct. 30 in Tampa federal court, after an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement last year found no excessive force on the parts of officers.
Cops should have known the dangers of leaving a suspect in a prone position, the lawsuit says, like potential asphyxiation.
“Defendants heard Davis struggling to breathe,” the suit says. “Defendants heard Davis plead that he was in distress. Defendants observed Davis lying motionless on the ground. Defendants heard Davis cry out in pain.”
It all went down over 11 minutes at a Circle K in Palmetto on Nov. 1, 2023. Calls around 2 a.m. said Johnson-Davis was acting erratically and disrupting staff and other customers.
A group of officers from Palmetto responded, along with an off-duty Bradenton cop, Julian Jackson.
Johnson-Davis climbed on the hood of a police cruiser and continued to speak incoherently and make high-pitched noises, the suit says, leading to Jackson tackling him. While Johnson-Davis, face-down now, resisted handcuffs, Officer Caleb Cottom used his taser. And then he uses it again, and Johnson-Davis says, “I can’t breathe.”
While they wait on EMS, Cottom is heard saying he “finally got to use it” in reference to his new taser. Jackson leaves the scene, telling other cops, “I wasn’t even here.”
Jackson was ultimately suspended for a week for assisting in Palmetto, then accused Bradenton of forcing his resignation.
No medical aid was administered while Johnson-Davis was face-down, though EMS personnel had arrived. As they debated how to move him onto a cot and nearly 12 minutes after he was tackled, they realized Johnson-Davis had no pulse.
CPR did not work, and Johnson-Davis died the following day. Activists including Johnson-Davis’ mother, the president of the Manatee County NAACP, continue to protest the lack of discipline for cops and earlier this month rallied against the promotion of Officer Matthew Wilson, who was among the group that responded to the Circle K.
