SEQUIM –– City officials said Tuesday they are confident they will prevail in a federal lawsuit filed Monday by attorneys for Morgan Weimer, a Sequim man who was punched by police outside a nightclub during the 2013 Irrigation Festival.
“I’ve reviewed the videos, and I’m familiar with use-of-force techniques and standards,” City Attorney Craig Ritchie said.
“From what I’ve seen, it fits our training, it fits standard practice, it fits our policies.”
Weimer’s attorneys filed a suit in U.S. District Court in Tacoma alleging police used unreasonable force when they punched him in the back while trying to arrest him outside a punk-rock concert at The Oasis Bar and Grill, 301 E. Washington St., on May 12, 2013.
Chief Bill Dickinson defended his officers’ actions after the incident and again Monday night, saying they used force necessary to arrest Weimer, whom they saw throw an elbow at another man inside the restaurant.
Weimer is seeking damages and attorney’s fees from the city.
The city had not been served with the suit as of Tuesday.
The lawsuit names the city of Sequim only.
A story on Page A1 in Tuesday’s Peninsula Daily News incorrectly reported that Dickinson was named as a defendant in the suit. His name had been removed from the paperwork.
Ritchie defended the actions of the four officers who arrested Weimer that night.
“It’s important to get the guy arrested and get him out of there,” Ritchie said, “for his safety, for your safety, for everybody’s safety.”
Video taken on the cellphone of a bystander showed Officer Grant Dennis punching Weimer while two other officers held him face-down in a concrete planter box outside the front door.
Dickinson pointed out another video captured by Oasis security cameras that showed Weimer resisting arrest as officers took him out of the bar after he hit another patron.
Two videos
Dickinson said that video shows Weimer’s hands reaching for the gun and Taser of one of those officers.
Weimer said he was only trying to hold on to the officer to keep from falling on the ground and that the other man instigated the altercation.
Weimer also said he was not resisting the arrest; he did not give officers his arm to be handcuffed because it was pinned under him as he lay face-down in the planter box, he said.
Officers drove Weimer home after the incident because he told them his son was there alone.
They returned later and left a ticket for resisting arrest -fourth-degree assault in the mailbox outside Weimer’s front door.
Weimer pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct from the incident. He paid a $100 fine and $150 in court costs and did eight hours of community service.
Weimer filed a claim for damages with the city in February. His claim was denied.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
