In a distressing turn of events, Tyron McAlpin, a deaf and disabled man with cerebral palsy, has filed a $3.5 million claim against the City of Phoenix and three of its police officers. The notice of claim, which was served last Wednesday, details a violent encounter with Phoenix Police Officers Benjamin Harris and Kyle Sue and cites the subsequent filing of false police reports by Officer Jorge Acosta. According to Fox10 Phoenix, the officers responded to a disturbance call from a Circle K and based on a white male's allegations, proceeded to a nearby Dollar Tree where they attacked McAlpin.
The incident that transpired on Aug. 19 near Indian School Road and 12th Street was captured on video. Footage shows the officers punching and using a taser on McAlpin. In a claim filed by McAlpin's attorney, Jesse M. Showalter, it's alleged that McAlpin was falsely accused of aggravated assault and theft of his cell phone. "Phoenix Police Officers Benjamin Harris and Kyle Sue responded to a Phoenix Circle K in response to a call of a white male behaving aggressively and refusing to leave the Circle K. Based on false allegations from the white male who was the subject of the call, Officers Harris and Sue left the Circle K and attacked, beat, and tased Tyron McAlpin, a deaf African American man who has cerebral palsy," Showalter stated in a document that Fox10 Phoenix obtained. This led to McAlpin's incarceration for 24 days before the Maricopa County Attorney dismissed a felony aggravated assault charge.
Interim Phoenix Police Chief Michael Sullivan had earlier acknowledged the concerns raised by the viral video, assuring that "the community we will get answers to those questions." Sullivan noted in a statement obtained by Fox10 Phoenix, "I recognize the video is disturbing and raises a lot of questions." On the other side, McAlpin's attorneys have informed the City of Phoenix of their client's willingness to settle the claims for the quoted sum of $3.5 million, as reported by 12 News.
This case unfolds amid a broader conversation about police conduct and the treatment of disabled individuals by law enforcement agencies. The Professional Standard Bureau of the Phoenix Police Department launched an internal investigation following the incident.
