SPRINGFIELD -- A lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court on behalf of a West Springfield boy alleges a top-down culture of police brutality and supervisory indifference in the Springfield Police Department, culminating in a violent arrest that left the plaintiff with two black eyes and dog bites over his body.

A boy identified as "F.E." in a 17-page lawsuit is suing three city police officers, a state trooper and the city itself, arguing he endured repeated attacks by a police dog after he was already captured -- and was battered by police while on the ground and in handcuffs.

"Welcome to white town motherf-----s," one of the defendants, Officer Gregg Bidga, allegedly said to the Hispanic plaintiff after kicking both him and another teen suspect, also prone and in handcuffs, in their faces after a car chase on Feb. 27, 2016.

The teens took off in an undercover police vehicle earlier that night when a detective left it running outside a city pizza shop as he dashed in for a to-go order, according to police reports. Former narcotics detective Steven Vigneault, who was driving the vehicle, is named in the lawsuit along with his then-supervisor, Capt. Rupert Daniel.

Lawyers for the city and Vigneault declined to make immediate comments about the complaint.

Bigda was later captured on surveillance video at the Palmer Police Station, where the chase ended, berating and threatening two juvenile suspects.

"I'm not hampered by the f---ing truth 'cause I don't give a f---! People like you belong in jail. I'll charge you with whatever -- I'll stick a f---ing kilo of coke in your pocket and put you away for 15 years," Bigda shouts on the video footage, made public by The Republican and MassLive in late 2016.

Bigda was suspended for 60 days but remains on the police force, and even applied for a promotion to sergeant earlier this year.



Vigneault resigned in 2016 over the kicking incident but denies assaulting the boys, and has become a star witness in an ongoing federal civil rights investigation of the police department. The city also is a named defendant in the complaint, which alleges officials turned a blind eye to an out-of-control police culture.

Bidga, the lawsuit notes, had an extensive history of citizens' complaints that included allegations of assaulting a pregnant woman, pepper-spraying puppies to death and telling one complainant "I hate Puerto Ricans," according to the lawsuit.

He was never disciplined until the now-infamous "Bigda videos" were widely released to defense attorneys in drug cases and later became public, the complaint says.

F.E.'s complaint says police in Wilbraham got a line on the stolen car in that town, and chased it into neighboring Palmer. When the car was disabled by "stop sticks," the boys took off into the night.

Vigneault said he was picking up the pizza to mitigate Bigda's steady consumption of rum throughout their shift, the lawsuit claims.

"Officer Vigneault knew that Officer Bigda had been drinking rum, and he hoped that eating pizza would help him sober up," it reads.

The lawsuit also alleges Daniel was culpable for allowing his detectives to go to the scene where the car was stopped -- albeit on their own time.

"It was foreseeable that officers whose shift had ended -- and who had a personal stake in ending the embarrassment of having left an undercover police vehicle idling unattended so it could be taken -- would commit misconduct in this situation," the lawsuit says. "It was foreseeable that intoxicated police officers would commit misconduct in this situation."

The complaint says F.E.'s friends -- R.D. and T.J. -- were 15 and 16, respectively. Massachusetts State Trooper Matthew Baird, also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, deployed his K-9 named Caber after the boys ran from the scene. They took refuge on the porch of a multifamily home on Main Street in Palmer and the dog tracked them there.

Spotting a large German Shepard charging at them, F.E. and R.D. leapt off the porch and began running away, the lawsuit says. Caber quickly caught up to F.E., biting his forearm, upper thigh and buttocks, according to the complaint. As the trooper regained control of his dog, F.E. and R.D. were handcuffed and the Springfield narcotics detectives arrived on the scene, the lawsuit says.

"Officer Bigda approached R.D., who was handcuffed and lying face down on the concrete, and kicked him in the face," it reads. "Officer Bigda then approached F.E., who was also handcuffed and lying face down on the concrete, and kicked him in the face."

While Vigneault fell under investigation for the kicking incident after a Wilbraham patrolman reported it to his chief, and Bigda came under fire for the videos, this lawsuit is the first public allegation that Bigda kicked the prone suspects.

Neither of the other two juveniles has filed lawsuits.

The complaint also alleges Vigneault joined in on the attacks.



"Officers Bigda and Vigneault either assaulted F.E. or failed to intervene to prevent other police officers from assaulting F.E. despite having an opportunity to do so. During the assault, officers punched F.E. in the face several times," it reads.



According to the complaint, the plaintiff's nose was bloodied, the dog continued to bite him while he was already on the ground in handcuffs and officers continued to hit him.



"As the police violence against him went on, F.E. repeatedly screamed, 'They're going to kill me! They're going to kill me!' R.D. and T.J., cuffed and seated on the curb, watched in horror," the complaint says.



"At the end of these attacks, Officer Bigda spit on F.E. and said, 'Welcome to white town, motherf-----s,'" it continues.



F.E. was eventually taken to the hospital and treated for injuries, according to the lawsuit, which included abrasions, two black eyes and a broken nose.

At the time the boys were arrested, Springfield police reported that a group of youths had stolen an undercover police car and were captured after a high-speed chase through two local communities.

A spokesman billed the incident as a "joy ride" and said three boys had been criminally charged in connection with the theft.

Howard Friedman, a civil rights attorney representing the plaintiff, said criminal charges against his client were dismissed last year in Springfield Juvenile Court. The dismissal was based on "prosecutorial misconduct based on misconduct by police officers as the law enforcement arm of the prosecution."