An Evanston resident filed a federal lawsuit last week against two Evanston Police Department officers for allegedly arresting him under false pretenses and tasing him, pinning him to the ground and choking him.
The complaint, filed April 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, charges EPD sergeant Kenneth Carter and officer Mikhail Geyer with using excessive force as well as making an arrest under false pretenses after officers forcibly detained Ronald Louden in the 2100 block of Wesley Avenue in June 2018. The City of Evanston is included as a codefendant.
Body camera footage recorded by officers and released by Fox 32 Chicago shows a half-dozen officers approaching Louden at a parking lot. According to Louden’s complaint, he was grilling a meal for family and friends.
Louden says re-watching the video of the confrontation that followed has been tough for him, especially in the aftermath of the Derek Chauvin verdict in Minnesota.
“I was like ‘wow,’” he said. “Now with all the George Floyd and all this stuff going on, I mean, I could have been one of them.”
According to Louden, he was grilling with friends in the parking lot when he saw the officers approaching, with one of them having his hand on his service weapon.
“I seen a gun and some arms pointing in my direction,” he said.
Louden says he and the officers had a back-and-forth discussion, and says he admitted during the discussion that he has a criminal record. He says that he repeatedly asked why he was approached by the officers, but was never given an answer.
Evanston Now
Lawsuit claims excessive force in arrest
An amended lawsuit filed by an Evanston man alleges excessive use of force, false arrest, and inadequate medical care by city police who arrested him nearly three years ago.
A still from body cam video showing officers attempting to handcuff Ronald Louden.
An amended lawsuit filed by an Evanston man alleges excessive use of force, false arrest, and inadequate medical care by two city police officers in the June 2018 arrest of then-40-year-old Ronald Louden, Jr.
Attorney Andrew Stroth says in the federal court complaint that “without cause or provocation,” the two officers “forcibly handcuffed Mr. Louden, tased him in the back twice, and smashed him face-first into a cement parking curb.”
A lawsuit alleging excessive force has been filed against two Evanston police officers shown on bodycam video struggling with a man in a parking lot and using a Taser on him, causing him to hit his head against a curb.
Ronald Louden says police had no reason to approach him in the 2100 block of Wesley Avenue in June 2018.
“Without cause or provocation, (the officers) forcibly handcuffed Mr. Louden, tased him in the back twice, and smashed him face-first into a cement parking curb,” the amended lawsuit states.
But the city of Evanston said in a statement Thursday the officers were responding to a report of a man with a gun and found a loaded weapon in Louden’s car.