Cedric Cheeley Files Lawsuit Against Dallas Police

Source: Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers / Getty

‘Tis the season to expose the piggy pig police officers who misuse their power and abuse innocent American citizens, particularly those whose skin is rich with melanin. According to CBS News, a 47-year-old Black man named Cedric Cheeley has filed a lawsuit against four Dallas police officers who arrested him in April 2022. During his apprehension, Cheeley was beaten mercilessly with a baton. The body camera shows one officer striking him on the feet 133 times with a metal baton.

Cheeley is a comedy writer and says he has been crafting jokes in an attempt to laugh at his pain, but that pain is not laughing along with him.

“You know, to keep from crying, I tell jokes and laugh at it. I guess I’m still dealing with it.”

He says that the beating has left with him life-changing nerve damage that isn’t likely ever to heal.

Cheeley encountered the Dallas police officers in the early hours of the morning after they had responded to a false alarm about an active shooter in a crowded parking lot. Cheeley can be seen in the body camera footage having a benign conversation with Sgt. Jon Matthew Martinez about the incident and told the officer that he would walk home after Martinez suspected that he was intoxicated. When Cheeley walked away, Martinez told the other officers that people like Cheeley needed to be taught a lesson by being arrested.

Cheeley continued to shuffle around the scene, and eventually, Officer Randy Rhoden’s temper flared, and he threatened Cheeley with arrest if he didn’t leave immediately. After some back and forth, Cheeley was told that he was under arrest for public intoxication despite the fact that he had not threatened the officers or obstructed their work. Then 6-foot-6 325-pound Cheeley fell to the ground and refused to get up. Officers said he was resisting arrest.

Cheeley told the officers that he had surgical pins in his hips and had extreme difficulty sitting in confined spaces. At some point, it was noticed that Cheeley had his feet hanging out the window of the police cruiser. The body camera video shows Sgt. Martinez pulled out his baton and struck Cheeley’s feet repeatedly.

It is unclear what damages and compensation Mr. Cheeley is seeking in his lawsuit, but it stands to reason that a six-figure check is en route to his bank account in the near future.