By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A Centralia man has made a claim of excessive force against three Centralia police officers, from an incident in which he says they unnecessarily forced him to the ground, pinned him there and then kneed and hit him several times while contending he was resisting.
Steven Radick, 58 at the time, was hospitalized and suffered injuries to his face and chest as well as a knee sprain and back strain, according to his attorney.
Radick filed a claim for damages with the city of Centralia earlier this month in the amount of $25,000, asking to be compensated for the injuries and medical expenses.
The city’s insurer denied the tort claim within days, stating the officers’ actions were appropriate, given Radick’s behavior as police tried to secure him.
The events took place a year and a half ago, when police were called to an apartment complex on South Silver Street regarding a dispute between neighbors.
Chehalis lawyer Jacob Clark wrote in the claim his description of what happened, based on police reports and phone interviews with two of the officers.
Clark relates that police showed up on Nov. 12, 2013 but didn’t arrest anyone after his client got into an argument with a neighbor, who struck him in the eye. Thirty minutes later, police returned because the neighbor claimed his electricity had been shut off, according to Clark.
The Centralia Police Department at the time said Radick was intoxicated.
Sgt. Carl Buster stated that as he was questioning Radick, Radick hit him with the back of his hand on the chest plate, and he stepped back, and Clark writes that the sergeant yelled, “Hey, you can’t touch me,” and grabbed Radick’s arm.
Officers William Phipps and Phillip Weismiller ran over, and Phipps told Clark he grabbed by Radick the neck, forcing him onto the ground, and then put his right knee on Radick’s back and his left knee on Radick’s neck, with Weismiller securing his legs, according to Clark.
They could not get Radick’s hands out from under his chest, so Phipps said he threw several punches to his left shoulder, Clark wrote.
Phipps was telling him, you’re under arrest, stop resisting, Clark states.
“Strikes were landed on Mr. Radick by multiple officers, which led to Mr. Radick being handcuffed,” he wrote.
Clark states his client did not resist, that he had put his hands down to cushion his fall so they were underneath his body, and he could not remove them because he was pinned.
Radick was arrested for third-degree assault and subsequently pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault.
Outgoing Centralia Police Chief Bob Berg offered statistics on his department’s use of force in his March newsletter to the community.
According to Berg, last year force was used by officers on 96 occasions, with 15 of those resulting in some form of injury, 12 of those being relatively minor. More than half the time it was “physical force” with display of a firearm the next most used, according to Berg’s chart.
The claim was received by the city of Centralia on May 12.
Clark lists hospital diagnoses of open cheek wound, facial contusion, chest wall contusion, lumbar strain and right knee strain.
On May 15, the city’s representative – Washington Cities Insurance Authority – denied the claim, stating Radick resisted attempts to take him into custody and officers used reasonable force.
Senior Adjuster Gordy Van, of WCIA, wrote that Radick was so intoxicated that at the hospital he had to be watched for alcohol withdrawal.