Officers who punched, kicked man sued in federal court
ATLANTA – A man who was punched and kicked in the head by Georgia police officers during a traffic stop four years ago has filed a lawsuit alleging the stop was unjustified and the officers used excessive force against him.
Gwinnett County police Sgt. Michael Bongiovanni pulled Demetrius Hollins over in Lawrenceville, just outside Atlanta, on April 12, 2017. Video filmed by a witness shows Bongiovanni punching Hollins as Hollins stood with his hands raised after exiting his car. A second video shows Bongiovanni appearing to yell at a handcuffed Hollins, who then lies face-down in a left-turn lane of a busy intersection. Officer Robert Mcdonald runs up and immediately appears to stomp on Hollins’ head.
Hollins, who was 22 at the time of the traffic stop, said during a news conference Wednesday that he still has “some kind of PTSD from this situation.”
He filed the federal lawsuit earlier this month against Bongiovanni and Mcdonald, as well as former Gwinnett County police chief Butch Ayers and the county.