Beaten man sues police over arrest that went viral

A 24-year-old man has sued the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office over a violent arrest that went viral in 2023.

Le'Keian Woods was arrested after fleeing from police who suspected him of being involved in a drug deal. Officers chased him through a Southside apartment complex, catching him, tasering him, punching and elbowing him, and leaving him with bruises, a broken kidney and swollen eyes.

Someone captured the arrest on a cell phone and shared it on social media.

Sheriff TK Waters said at the time that the use of force was justified, but Woods' attorney says the video shows something is wrong at the sheriff's office.

Attorney Norman Harris held a news conference Thursday outside the federal courthouse in Jacksonville and said Woods, a Black man, was “brutally beaten.”

“It was a racial profiling situation that resulted in the excessive use of force in drawing weapons, which is completely unreasonable, which ultimately led to Mr. Woods' escape,” Harris said. “So we are here because we are advocates for justice, and we believe we need to raise our voices for what is right, not just for this family, but to send a message.”

The lawsuit seeks damages from officers Hunter Sullivan, Trey McCullough and Beau Daigle, as well as former officer Josue Garriga.

The sheriff's office said it could not comment on the lawsuit because litigation is pending.

The arrest

Woods' arrest report dated Sept. 29, 2023, said a Sheriff's Office gang unit believed he was involved in a drug deal near Toledo Road and Powers Avenue.

Garriga wrote in a report that someone got out of a Ram pickup truck with something in his pocket that he believed might be a weapon. He said he recognized Woods when he saw him counting cash before getting back into the Ram, which drove away.

Officers said they followed the truck because the driver was not wearing a seatbelt. Two men were handcuffed, but Woods ran away.

When officers caught him, he resisted arrest and they feared he was armed, the report said.

Officers punched him in the face and ribs, and Garriga wrote that he gave Woods “four knee strikes” in the upper shoulder area to force him to obey. Garriga also “inadvertently kneed” Woods in the face until another officer handcuffed the young man, the report said.

Woods said Thursday that he got “kind of scared” when officers stopped him and that the video “kind of speaks for itself.”

He was charged with several drug offenses when he was arrested, but was ultimately convicted of resisting arrest without violence, court records show.

The lawsuit

Atlanta attorney Harry Daniels, who filed the lawsuit, said police had no legal basis for their actions.

“This drug deal never happened,” Daniels said. “There was no drug deal.”

The officers probably had a reason to stop the truck for the seatbelt violation, but that didn't give them reason to draw their weapons, he said.

Woods did not have a weapon on him at the time, Daniels said, and ran away out of fear of being shot. He also said the officers involved in the incident had been the subject of multiple complaints.

Sheriff Waters held a press conference on October 3, 2023 and admitted that the officers had used force. “And yes, this power is ugly,” he said.

“But just because violence is ugly doesn’t mean it’s illegal or against policy,” the sheriff said at the time. All officers involved in the incidents remained on the streets “where they belong,” he said.

However, Garriga is no longer in action. He later pleaded guilty to enticing a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity.

He was accused of having a relationship with a teenage girl and exchanging nude photos. He pleaded guilty and faces a sentence of 10 years to life in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been set.