SPOKANE, Wash. – A man who was beaten up during an arrest by a Spokane Valley police officer last year has filed a federal lawsuit saying his civil rights were violated.
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The man, Kevin Hinton, said the incident began on his way back home after meeting his newborn granddaughter. Hinton had been on the road for 12 hours driving back from Oregon to his home in Colfax and needed to stop and rest.
Sergeant Clay Hilton approached Hinton’s car telling him he couldn’t park in the park’s lot. Hinton complied and said he’d find another spot.
Hinton said Sgt. Hilton wouldn’t let him leave until he showed his ID.
Hinton refused and it escalated to the point where the sergeant pulled Hinton out of the car and began punching him multiple times – all caught on body camera footage.
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“I literally thought I was dying,” Hinton recalled. That thought lingered as he sat handcuffed in the backseat of a police car.
Medics with AMR cleared Hinton to go to the Spokane County Jail. Not the hospital.
Upon arrival, he said the jail refused to admit him, sending him to the emergency room. That’s where he discovered he had eight broken ribs, several of which had been separated from his sternum, along with a punctured lung, concussion, and disfigured lip.
Something he described as an agonizing recovery.
“Getting up to go to the bathroom was a challenge,” he chuckled.
SCSO reviewed the arrest and Sergeant Hilton was never reprimanded, but Spokane Police Department recommended second-degree assault charges be filed against Sgt. Hilton.
The case was sent to the Yakima County Prosecutor’s Office in February to avoid conflict of interest.
Charges still have not been filed.
“If that would’ve been you or I, I would’ve been in jail that night and would still in jail,” said Hilton. “He should’ve been relieve of his duty immediately and dealt with accordingly.”
Hinton filed a federal lawsuit, saying systemic failures across multiple agencies led to his civil rights being violated.
The lawsuit filed in federal court states Sgt. Hilton was involved in an excessive force complaint three months prior to this incident.
Hinton filed this federal lawsuit saying change has to happen regarding Sgt. Hilton, the police department and the city as a whole, to protect the rights of its citizens.
“It’s time for some justice in this.”
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