After the pursuit and crash, police learned through blood tests that November had a blood alcohol level of 0.20 percent, or 2.5 times the legal limit to drive.

The lawsuit says that after the crash, officers at the scene smelled the strong odor of gasoline and observed fuel spilling from November’s car. Concerned that a fire would erupt, the officers decided to remove November from the wreckage before paramedics arrived.

Upon Swope’s arrival, the officer radioed the county’s emergency communications center and said that “a lot” of fluid was leaking from November’s car and fire units needed to respond, the suit says.

After fire and medical trucks with their sirens and flashing lights converged on the scene and pulled next to the unarmed November as he lay in the roadway, he became startled, the suit says, and began to “move about in an apparent effort to get up.” Some officers said he also swung his arms around.

That prompted the four armed officers who had been standing over November to “swarm” him, as one officer described it, and grab his arms and legs to keep him restrained.

Officer Gruarin, “a competitive weightlifter,” soon began punching November in the face and head with multiple blows, the complaint says.