KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee couple is suing the city of Knoxville and three of its police officers, who were seen on dashcam video putting the man in a chokehold.
John and Kelli Gorghis said the officers violated the rights of John Gorghis during an arrest for domestic assault on June 13 last June. The officers said he resisted arrest after slamming an officer's hand in his door.
Warrants show that neighbors called 911 to the home for a domestic disturbance between Gorghis and his wife.
Neighbors told the officers they heard arguing and what sounded like a physical altercation between the couple and that there had been multiple "violent disturbances" at the residence in recent history.
According to the warrant, John Gorghis ran inside the house and attempted to lock the officers out. When officers got inside they "attempted to detain John, as he demonstrated that he was a flight risk, as well as for officer safety."
The warrant stated that "John forcibly pulled his body away from officers, breaking free from their grasps."
According to the lawsuit, Gorghis said one of the officers slammed his face into the floor during his arrest.
Dashcam video showed him sitting handcuffed in a police car for about 20 minutes before they pulled him out and slammed him to the ground. One officer was seen putting his arm around Gorghis' neck as another held his nose.
Gorghis said in the suit that the officers wanted to take a picture of his face for the report, so they pulled him from the back of the car and forced him to the ground. He said one officer choked him while the others attempted to move the handcuffs from the front to the rear.
He said one of the officers also pinched his nose while he was choked, "further obstructing his airway."
"As the Plaintiff John Gorghis began to lose his consciousness, the Defendants removed the handcuffs from the front of the Plaintiff’s torso and re-handcuffed him behind his torso," according to the lawsuit.
The suit also said the handcuffs were re-applied with extreme force and were overly tight, causing "severe, permanent and painful injuries to his arms, hands and wrists".
After his arrest, Gorghis said he pushed his wife after she punched him in the face, according to the warrant. It stated that both of them were "extremely intoxicated."
Gorghis was initially charged with assault and resisting arrest from the incident on June 13, but those charges were later dismissed.
A police spokesperson declined to comment to the Associated Press.
This story was originally reported by the Associated Press.