A Springfield resident has filed a $100,000 federal lawsuit against the city and 24 members of its police department, alleging that he was beaten by officers following a 2015 motor vehicle stop.

In the suit, Adalberto Bernal claims that Officer John Wajdula beat him with a metal flashlight during a struggle after Bernal was reluctant to provide identification following an unexplained traffic stop. The suit names Officers Christopher Collins and David Suchcicki, who are accused of striking Bernal, and 20 unidentified officers accused of either participating in the alleged beating or standing by without intervening.

Police Commissioner John Barbieri is also a defendant in the suit, with Bernal, 34, alleging that the department's use of force policy failed to prevent the use of excessive violence by officers and did not ban the use of metal flashlights to hit suspects.

"Defendants Collins, Suchicki and Wajdula used excessive force during the arrest, arrested and charged the Plaintiff without probable cause with self-serving charges to aide the defendants in covering up the pervasive civil rights violations, verbally abused the Plaintiff with physical force; applied excessive force to the Plaintiff's body after he was no longer free to leave the routine motor vehicle stop and became a prisoner; denied him equal protection under the law," the suit claims.

City of Springfield solicitor Ed Pikula declined to comment on the suit, saying the city would respond in court.

According to the complaint, Collins and Suchicki pulled Bernal over shortly after 11 p.m. on May 23, 2015, as they searched for a vehicle suspected of involvement in a drive-by shooting.

Bernal's car, a late model black BMW, allegedly matched the description, the suit says. But the suit claims that the officers had no other information to justify the stop, including a registration tag or a description of the suspect.

"Based upon observing a late model black BMW drive by them, without observing any moving motor vehicle violations and without having any information relative to any drive-by shooting, the Defendants pulled behind the motor vehicle claiming they wanted to stop the motor vehicle "to identify the operator," the suit claims. "At no time prior to or leading up to the approach of the motor vehicle had Plaintiff Bernal engaged in violating any laws."

The officers wrote in their report that they asked Bernal over a dozen times for his license and registration, but that Bernal refused to comply, according to Collins' police report on the incideint. Bernal repeatedly asked that the officers first tell him the reason he was being pulled over, the suit says.

"Defendants Collins and Suchicki refused to inform the citizen why his automobile was stopped by the Springfield Police Department," the suit says.

The officers allegedly told Bernal he would be arrested if he refused to identify himself. Bernal locked the doors of his vehicle after being told he was under arrest. Bernal eventually displayed his license and registration through the window before lowering the window and handling them over, the suit claims.

He was still under arrest, however, and Collins and Suchicki warned him they would break his car's windows if he refused to exit the vehicle, according to Collins' police report. Collins used his baton to break the glass of the drivers' side window, a which point Bernal allegedly began resisting arrest, according the police report.

More than 15 officers had arrived as backup by the time Collins and Suchicki allegedly began striking Bernal's legs and torso, the suit claims. Wajdula, who had arrived on the scene, allegedly began striking Bernal's head, arms, shoulder and body with a metal flashlight.

It is not the first time a Springfield police officer has been accused of wielding a flashlight as a weapon and using excessive force. Former Springfield Police Officer Jeffrey Asher was fired and convicted of assault after being caught on video beating black motorist Melvin Jones III with a flashlight

Bernal was treated for head lacerations and bodily injuries at Baystate Medical Center following the confrontation, according to the suit. In a police report, Collins wrote that Bernal's head injuries stemmed from him striking his head on the road serface while "thrashing" on the ground, according to court records.

Collins also wrote that after Bernal was taken into custody, he allegedly threatened to find out where officers lived and kill them.

Bernal was never charged in connection with the drive-by shooting. But he was charged with failure to identify, resisting arrest, assault and battery on a police officer and threat to commit a crime in connection with the traffic stop, Those charges are still pending, following a series of continuances and requests for internal affairs records by his defense attorney.

A search of court records shows that Bernal did not face any firearms charges in 2015 or 2016. He did have other counts on his record, including multiple motor vehicle violations in 2015 and 2016. and a 2009 indictment for receiving stolen vehicles that led to a jail sentence.

Bernal's attorneys Shawn Allyn and James Goodhines intend on filing a video of the confrontation as an exhibit in the suit, according to federal court records.