Kansas resident Lionel Womack has accused Kiowa County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Rodriguez of intentionally running him over during a traffic stop on August 15. Womack is now suing Rodriguez for using excessive force during the encounter
Former police detective Lionel Womack was returning home from a business trip when he was stopped for an alleged traffic violation. During the traffic stop, Womack's lawsuit states that he began "running on foot into a nearby open farm field” because he was fearful of being “harmed by the officers pursuing him." At this point, a video from a nearby police vehicle shows officers driving up to the unarmed former detective. Once the vehicle caught up to Womack, the lawsuit claims that Rodriguez “intentionally swerved his patrol truck so that the truck hit Mr. Womack, knocked him to the ground, and ran him over.” Video then shows Womack rolling out from under the vehicle as the officer shouted, "Lie down!" Since the incident, Womack claims that he has “sustained serious injury to his back, pelvis, thigh, right knee, right ankle, and right foot."
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“The dashcam video is disturbing,” attorney Michael Kuckelman said.
“It is impossible to watch a video of a deputy driving his truck over Mr. Womack without feeling sick. There was nowhere for Mr. Womack to go. It was an open field, and he was trapped, yet the deputy drove his truck over him anyway.”
Four months after the incident, Womack remains in jail. He is being charged with attempting to elude a law enforcement officer by engaging in reckless driving and interference with a law enforcement officer. He is also being charged with endangering others while eluding or attempting to elude police in an unrelated incident in Oklahoma three days earlier.
Local officers have yet to comment on the matter publicly.
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