COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A Woodland Park man has filed a lawsuit against the Teller County and Colorado Springs law enforcement officers who were seen on camera using a stun gun on him in a hospital last April.
On April 17, 2019, Carl Anderson Jr.'s daughter was seriously injured when she tried to get into a vehicle when Anderson's fiancee was driving away, according to a complaint submitted to the U.S. District Court.
Anderson, an honorably discharged Marine Corps veteran, was by his daughter's crib at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs when he was confronted by a detective from the Teller County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) and officers from Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD), according to a release from Anderson's attorney David Lane.
CSPD officers Vito Delcore, Todd Eckert and Carlos Sandoval, as well as TCSO Detective Anthony Matarazzo, are listed as defendants in the case, according to the complaint.
The officers claimed to suspect there was evidence of a crime on Anderson's fiancee's phone, which was located in Anderson's pants pocket, the complaint says.
Anderson refused to hand over the phone to the officers and detective at the hospital and was tasered twice, according to the complaint. The following body camera footage provided by Lane captures the interaction:
"The officers used this violent force and unlawfully arrested Mr. Andersen despite the fact that they had no reasonable suspicion or probable cause that he had committed any crime, while he was unarmed, was acting lawfully, was remaining calm, and did not threaten any officer," the complaint says
Anderson was arrested and charged with resisting arrest and obstructing justice, but these charges were later dropped, according to the release from Anderson's attorney.
"The officers used this violent force and unlawfully arrested Mr. Andersen despite the fact that they had no reasonable suspicion or probable cause that he had committed any crime, while he was unarmed, was acting lawfully, was remaining calm, and did not threaten any officer," Lane said in the release.
A spokesperson for CSPD provided the following statement about the incident:
“CSPD, appreciates 9NEWS Denver reaching out to our organization to discuss this incident, but we are unable to speak on any matter that is under litigation.”
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Local stories from 9NEWS
