Lawsuit against officer allowed to go on

Dismissal denied in case claiming 2 boys’ civil rights violated in stop, detention

FAYETTEVILLE — A lawsuit that claims a Springdale police officer violated two boys’ civil rights can continue.

A federal judge refused to dismiss claims against the officer in the detention of two teens he stopped while they were walking home from their grandparents’ house on a rainy night in 2018.

Officer Lamont Marzolf was helping other officers search for four, possibly armed people, on the night of Jan. 8, 2018, according to the lawsuit. Marzolf had set up a perimeter in a neighborhood on Lynn Street when two boys, ages 12 and 14, approached him..

The boys were forced to lie face down on the ground at gunpoint, and they were subsequently handcuffed and searched, according to the lawsuit. The boys’ mother sued on behalf of her children claiming Marzolf and another officer, Josh Kirmer, violated their civil rights.

The officers asked U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks to dismiss the case, claiming qualified immunity. Brooks on Friday released Kirmer and partially released Marzolf from the lawsuit, but stopped short of dismissing the case.

Brooks found Marzolf’s initial stop of the boys was reasonable, but that the continued detention of them presents questions of law a jury should decide. The case had been scheduled for trial beginning Monday in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville, but it will be rescheduled.

Brooks found facts that came to light after the initial stop didn’t support a reasonable suspicion by Marzolf that the boys were the fleeing suspects. Brooks said evidence, including police video, did not show suspicious behavior by the boys, they were not out of breath and were entirely compliant with Marzolf’s commands, the judge said.

Second, the boys’ mother arrived almost immediately and identified herself and the boys. Instead of questioning her further, Marzolf directed her to return home, according to the judge’s opinion and ruling.

The boys’ stepfather then approached Marzolf and told him the boys had just been at their grandparents’ home, but Marzolf continued to point his gun at the boys while they were face down on the ground, according to Brooks.

Once he knew the boys’ names, Marzolf knew they were not the suspects being sought, Brooks said.

Still facing Marzolf are claims of a prolonged seizure, claims on the arrest and detention of the boys, claims of an illegal search of one, and the boys’ claim of excessive force.

Brooks granted summary judgment to Marzolf on claims by the boys’ mother that he used excessive force against her by pointing a stun gun at her.

All claims against Kirmer were dismissed.

Summary judgment is a decision made on the basis of statements and evidence presented in the legal pleadings and documents filed, without a trial.