After 911 call, man says police forced him into ambulance

A man has filed suit against the police officers whom he alleges forced him into an ambulance against his will after he accidentally ingested the wrong medication.

Jose Escamilla says he was living with his roommate, Jason Nix, on Sept. 2, 2012, when he reached into a medicine cabinet, pulled out a bottle of medication and ingested two pills. As he was returning the bottle to its place in the cabinet, Escamilla realized that he had accidentally taken his roommate's medication, according to the complaint filed Sept. 2 in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas. 

Concerned, Escamilla called 911, the suit states. However, by the time the ambulance arrived, Escamilla was feeling fine and felt as if he no longer needed medical help, the complaint says.

"The officers ordered the plaintiff into the ambulance," the suit states. "Plaintiff, however, raised his hand up and repeated that he did not need an ambulance or immediate medical help as he was fine."

Escamilla backed away from the officers but defendant officer Christopher Thompson approached him, grabbed his hands, raised him into the air and then slammed him onto the floor, the complaint says.

"The officer also pinned the plaintiff down, rolled the plaintiff around and put his whole body on top of the plaintiff in the pelvis area as he handcuffed the plaintiff even though the plaintiff did not put up any form of resistance," the suit states. "The plaintiff was crying in pain and asking the officer to stop the brutalization but the officer failed to heed to plaintiff's cry."

Escamilla was then transported to the hospital where he was treated for his injuries. At the hospital, police informed staff that Escamilla had fallen from a standing position, which was a false statement, according to the complaint.

Because of the incident, Escamilla suffered physical injuries, impairments and disfigurement, endured great pain and emotional distress and incurred ongoing special damages, the suit states.

He blames the defendants for negligently failing to conduct sufficient training, for failing to adequately punish unconstitutional use of force, for tolerating the use of unconstitutional force and for failing to properly investigate citizen complaints of excessive force, according to the complaint.

In his complaint, Escamilla accuses the defendants of utilizing excessive force, of municipal liability, of violating the Texas Tort Claims Act and of assault.

He seeks actual damages in excess of the minimum jurisdictional limits of the court, plus exemplary damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, costs, attorney fees and other relief the court deems just.

Wakil O .Oyedemi and Omotayo J. Lawal of the Law Firm of O.J. Lawal and Associates in Houston will represent him.

Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas case number: 4:14-CV-2528.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note that a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt and it represents only one side of the story.