The incident involving John Fleming and the authorities in Michigan has sparked serious online outrage and plenty of debate about police conduct.
According to reports, officers from Michigan Police allegedly suspected Fleming of stealing items from Walmart. What happened next turned a routine suspicion into a story that social media could not ignore.
Officers dragged Fleming off a city bus while investigating the theft suspicion. Things escalated from there and Fleming was beaten during the confrontation before being taken to a Walmart location.
Yes, they brought him to Walmart, like a dramatic criminal investigation episode that nobody asked for.
The idea was simple: prove he stole the items.
Unfortunately, the plan did not work.
Store checks reportedly showed that Fleming was not actually guilty of the theft accusation.
Once off the bus, Flint Township police officers forced him to lie down face-first on the sidewalk while they continued to strike him, according to a lawsuit filed by Fleming last month.
But once they saw he had a receipt, the cops took him to the Walmart where employees – who had initially called police accusing him of shoplifting – matched his receipt to the items in his possession which proved he had stolen nothing, according to Michigan Live.
The cops released him and he was transported by ambulance to a local hospital to be treated for the injuries sustained in the arrest.
But he was then abused by officers a second time at the hospital in an incident captured on video because he refused to leave without being treated.
Fleming, 33, ended up spending three days in jail before he was cleared of all charges.
Fleming is suing and his lawsuit could potentially bring more attention to how theft suspicions are handled during public encounters.
At no point did Plaintiff pose a threat to the officers or hospital staff. His conduct was nonviolent, and any resistance was passive and attributable to physical pain and confusion stemming from his injuries. The force used by Defendants was grossly excessive, unreasonable, and punitive. Following the incident, Plaintiff was maliciously prosecuted on charges of resisting and obstructing, disorderly conduct, and trespassing—charges that were later dismissed. Plaintiff has since undergone multiple surgeries and continues to suffer from physical and emotional trauma as a result of Defendants’ conduct.
Listed as defendants in the lawsuit are Flint township police officers Jason Piercey and Sgt. Michael Nemecheck, the cops who accosted him on the bus, along with Genesee County sheriff’s deputies Corey Sheroski and Sean Clayton, who abused him at the hospital.
The lawsuit accuses the officers of unlawful detention and seizure and is asking for more than $75,000 for damages.
“He was just at Walmart, shopping for his business where he was profiled… as a thief,” Fleming’s sister Jasmine Burrell, told WJRT a month after the incident.
“He had receipts for the items for purchase. they didn’t bother to look at his receipts – he kept yelling ‘I have my receipts.’”
For now, the case continues to develop, and the story remains one of those moments where the internet collectively asks, “Did that really just happen?”
Sometimes real life writes the strangest headlines.
