City police sued for “excessive” force

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A Washington, D.C., resident has sued the city and several of its police officers, saying they used excessive force and publicly humiliated him when they arrested him for a restaurant robbery he did not commit.

Besides the city, Samuel Abutair, 23, sued Capt. Kevin Mercer, Lt. Brian Welsh, Officer Mohammad Awad and five unknown defendants recently in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, seeking at least $75,000 in damages.

In arresting Abutair on Oct. 8, 2013, in connection with a Sept. 30, 2013, robbery, police inflicted cuts and bruises on Abutair’s face “beyond the scope of the reasonable use of force,” the civil lawsuit says.

When they brought Abutair to the police station, the investigating detective told them they had arrested the wrong person, the complaint says.

In a “purely vindictive prosecution,” police then charged Abutair with obstructing official business, the complaint says, adding that a jury acquitted Abutair of that charge and the prosecutor apologized in court for bringing it.

Martin Hume, city law director, said city officials don’t believe Abutair committed the robbery.

However, Hume said: “It’s my understanding that the witnesses on the scene indicated that the use of force was reasonable.”

The suit, filed by Atty. Rhys B. Cartwright-Jones of Youngstown, is assigned to Judge Maureen A. Sweeney.