Key points: The court clerks beat the man paying his $10 parking ticket with pennies when they thought they were out of camera view, the victim shit his pants, and the victim will win a big settlement paid for by taxpayers.
A Michigan man who attempted to protest a $10 traffic fine by paying it with pennies is seeking damages after court officers allegedly responded by beating him and choking him to the point of defecation.
Sevy brought $10 in rolled-up pennies to the district courthouse to pay the fine, according to his attorney, Jonathan Marko.
“The clerk wasn’t too happy about that, they refused to allow him to pay with penny rolls,” Marko told Detroit TV station WJBK.
As he was leaving the courthouse, Sevy got into a verbal exchange with court officers Philip Barach and Harold Marshall, Marko alleges. The officers reportedly then put Sevy in a chokehold and then took him to the ground.
The experience was so shocking that it caused Sevy to defecate, according to the lawsuit filing.
“They booked him for a two-year felony,” Marko told HuffPost. “That a guy can get assaulted at a place set up to protect constitutional rights is scary and terrifying. I believe he may have full-blown PTSD.”