Little Joe Lageman says Phoenix police grabbed the wrong man after a March 2024 Maryvale hit-and-run, and that officers used excessive force when they did it. He spent five days in jail before prosecutors dropped the case, and he has now filed a civil suit against the city claiming wrongful arrest and injuries that include cracked ribs and a chipped tooth. The complaint argues investigators locked in on him and ignored other possible leads.
The hit-and-run that kicked all this off happened around 7:45 p.m. on March 29, 2024, when a silver GMC Silverado allegedly rear-ended a parked Dodge Ram and then took off, according to Phoenix New Times. Officers at the scene reported the fleeing driver as a younger, smaller Hispanic man. A short time later, Officer Diego Santana spotted Lageman less than half a block from a nearby Kingdom of Jehovah’s Witnesses church and stopped him. Police documents described the suspect they were looking for as about 25 years old, 5-foot-8 and roughly 160 pounds, while Lageman is 37 and about 6-foot-0.
Body-worn camera footage and officers’ written reports do not match up neatly. The video shows Lageman with his hands above his head, following commands. Santana’s incident report, by contrast, portrays him as verbally non-compliant and in a fighting stance, according to Phoenix New Times. “That day, I felt like I was gonna lose my life,” Lageman told the paper. The suit alleges officers pushed his head onto the pavement during the takedown. His attorney says prosecutors later dropped the case, and they are now pursuing a civil claim over the arrest and what followed.
Police response
The Phoenix Police Department has not acknowledged any mistake in the stop and says its investigation has not turned up anyone else in custody. Sgt. Rob Scherer, a department public information sergeant, told reporters that no other suspects were arrested and none are being sought. The department directed general media questions to the City of Phoenix.
What the lawsuit says
Lageman's complaint accuses the city of wrongful arrest, excessive force and investigative tunnel vision, and it seeks damages for physical and emotional harm. His legal team filed a notice of claim seeking $1.25 million, and court documents reviewed by reporters state the city rejected that demand. The suit also notes that prosecutors at one point offered a plea deal of 36 months of probation in exchange for a guilty plea. The charges were ultimately dropped in April 2025, his attorney told reporters.
Why it matters
Civil suits tied to contentious stops often trigger internal reviews and ramp up public scrutiny of police practices, even when departments do not concede error. This case will largely hinge on how judges and juries weigh body-cam footage against officers’ written accounts, and on whether the city chooses to settle or fight the claim in court.
