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$1 million lawsuit for police beating expected to cost time, money

It’s the arrest video that went viral.

Andrew Jackson Jr. wants a jury to see the cell phone video of his arrest taken in Detroit on January 12.

“The moment the gentleman is handcuffed, everything that is done afterwards is completely inappropriate,” said attorney Geoffrey Fieger.

And according to a lawsuit, Jackson wants $1 million for his “pain, suffering, emotional distress, mental anguish, lost wages, physical illness, medical expenses, injuries to his reputation, humiliation, mortification, and embarrassment.”

It’s just the kind of case Fieger has taken on dozens of times before – but he says he wouldn’t go near this one.

“If I weigh all the pluses and minuses I wouldn’t recommend handling this case on principal alone because you don’t have a very sympathetic victim,” he said.

While Jackson is claiming to be a victim in civil court, he is also accused of carjacking and robbing a grandmother at gunpoint in front of her grandchildren back in January.

He was arrested as part of a stolen car task force based in Grosse Pointe Park including members of the Highland Park police.

“He puts the gun in my face and says give me your car and purse I am robbing you,” the victim told FOX 2.

And Fieger says that accusation will be hard to overcome.

“A jury will not give the ‘victim’ who is also the perpetrator, a dime,” Fieger said. “So why do it. Not every case should go to court. Not every wrong should be righted. You waste time and money, these cases are not litigated for free.”

Not only will it take time and money to represent Jackson, but it will also cost the cities of Gross Pointe Park and Highland Park – two of the five defendants named in the suit.

Todd Perkins, the city attorney for Highland Park, says he wasn’t surprised by the lawsuit itself.

“Sometimes you have a larger lawsuit that will require some input from the tax base,” Perkins said. “A lot of times you see a lawsuit. it takes a little longer for them to file it and let the other processes work themselves out.”

Perkins said he didn’t think it would happen so soon. Jackson’s criminal case is still working its way through court. Perkins says if he testifies in the civil matter it may be held against him criminally.

“You’ve got to have enough sense to know when to hold them and when to fold them,” Fieger said. “And this is not one I would hold.”

FOX 2 attempted reach Jackson’s attorney to ask why he would take the case but calls were not returned.

As for any criminal wrong-doings done by the officers seen in this video, an investigation by Michigan State Police is over and is in the hands of the Wayne County Prosecutor for review.

On Tuesday the case was filed in federal court, but FOX 2 is told it may be months, even a year before the jury hears any part of this lawsuit.

As for any criminal wrong-doings done by the officers seen in the video, an investigation by Michigan State Police is over and is in the hands of the Wayne County Prosecutor for review.

On Tuesday the case was filed in federal court, but FOX 2 is told it may be months, even a year before the jury hears any part of this lawsuit.

Woman escapes attempted kidnapping at Wayne State University

A 35-year-old woman managed to escape three men in a minivan who tried to kidnap her Monday night at Wayne State University.

The woman, who is not being identified by Local 4, told reporter Shawn Ley she makes the trip to Detroit from Lansing every day. She is working toward a PhD at the university and takes a cab after classes back to Lansing.

She was waiting for a ride she had scheduled through Uber — a smartphone app-operated car service — at Cass Avenue and Putnam Street just after 9 p.m. when a black minivan pulled up.

Thinking it was her Uber, she opened the van’s sliding door and saw three black men inside.

They tried to pull her inside, but she was able to push herself back out of the van before it took off.

Though not seriously hurt physically, she’s very shaken up. She said she will be working with her husband on more safety measures now when she leaves campus.

Police did not release detailed descriptions of the men or minivan.

Police: Ex-boyfriend opens fire on woman at Ypsilanti Township home

A man shot his ex-girlfriend Tuesday afternoon while someone was in the middle of changing the locks at her Ypsilanti Township home, according to the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office.

The man entered the home while a maintenance worker was changing the locks. The Sheriff’s Office says the ex-boyfriend fired several shots once inside the home, striking his ex-girlfriend. She is in critical condition at a hospital.

The shooter fled the home on foot but officers caught up to him down the street. He is in custody.

The woman, who is in her 30s, has four children ranging between 4 and 10 years old. It’s not known if the children were in the home at the time of the shooting.

Written by LBeasley (Lauren Beasley), Digital Producer of The Morning Heat and Sports Editor of Radio One Detroit

Keep up with the Morning Heat on Instagram and Twitter at @hiphopdetroit

Suspect In Video Taped Arrest Seeks $1 Million From Officers  was originally published on hothiphopdetroit.com