Iowa Judicial Branch Building
DES MOINES, Iowa – The family of an unarmed man shot and killed by an Iowa police officer will get its chance to sue for assault, thanks to a recent ruling by the state Supreme Court.
The May 1 ruling allows the Estate of Brent Boggess to pursue claims against the City of Waterloo and Kenneth Schaff, who shot Boggess in November 2021 after Boggess rammed his truck into a police vehicle.
Boggess had told officers he has “bad mental illness” and just as the scene was calming down after a nine-minute chase, more cops arrived, Boggess’ attorney Neven Mulholland told KCCI in 2022.
But the lawsuit was tossed when Black Hawk County judge David Odekirk found the defendants were entitled to immunity on state-law claims like assault and battery. A federal judge had similarly dismissed civil rights arguments.
The Supreme Court reinstated the assault and battery claims while leaving open the possibility Waterloo could be sued for excessive force caused by a violation of state law regarding police conduct. It was asked to revisit a 2025 ruling - Doe v. W. Dubuque Cmty. Sch. District – which held immunity available under the “Back the Blue Act” does not apply to common law tort claims.
That case has been cited several times by the court since it was decided, and Justice Thomas Waterman wrote in the Boggess case, “We see no compelling reason to overrule these precedents.”
Officer Connor Weber reported Boggess had attempted to strike him with his Chevy Silverado on Nov. 16, 2021, leading to a chase during which Boggess drove into yards and through a waterway, the court opinion states.
He stopped in an alley where cops tried to resolve the situation. Officer Nick Weber was stopped in the alley in front of Boggess, and when Schaaf approached Boggess on foot the truck went forward and struck the police cruiser. Schaaf quickly fired six rounds.
The federal court found that even though a reasonable jury could decide Schaaf violated Boggess’ constitutional rights because there was a lack of indication that Boggess had committed a serious crime or was armed, Waterloo and Schaaf were entitled to immunity because nothing in case law says an officer can’t use deadly force against a driver who accelerates toward an occupied police vehicle.
The defendants then asked the Supreme Court to rule that its earlier Doe decision was narrowly decided, but it refused. It also said the trial judge shouldn’t have tossed the excessive force claim based on state law just because the federal judge dismissed federal excessive force arguments.
“The plaintiffs’ Iowa and federal excessive force claims and the immunities… may be similar, but we cannot conclude that the state and federal claims and defenses are identical,” Waterman wrote.
