A Lehigh Acres man who said two Fort Myers police officers wrongfully stunned him with a Taser and arrested him last April filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Tuesday against the officers.

The two officers, James Barlow and Chris Robles, can be seen in the video from their body cameras questioning Holley Delton Jones, 42, at the 7-Eleven at 11501 State Road 82 in Lehigh Acres on April 15, 2018, and then later shooting him with a Taser.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Fort Myers, alleges that the two officers used the Taser on Jones inside the convenience store despite receiving no complaints that he was acting unlawfully or creating a disturbance.

After Jones was stunned, he was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace, resisting an officer without violence, heroin possession, and marijuana possession.

All of the charges were eventually dropped.

At a press conference Tuesday morning, Michigan-based attorney Solomon Radner, representing Jones, said all his client was guilty of was shopping while being black.

Jones, who also appeared at the press conference, said he can't believe what happened to him that day. "They had no legal reason to do what they did," he said.

Radner said the officers violated Jones' First and Fourth Amendment rights and that the officers involved had no reasonable suspicion before they detained and arrested him.

The suit also claims the officers acted in an intentionally malicious and reckless manner to detain and arrest Jones without a warrant or any lawful basis.

Asked why the officers engaged with Jones, Radner said, "That's a great question."

Jones said he was in the 7-Eleven for about seven minutes after stopping for water and cigarettes before the officers approached him.

The five counts of the suit cover unlawful detainment and arrest; excessive force; unlawful search; malicious prosecution; and retaliation for protected conduct. Both officers are named in four of the counts and Barlow is named by himself in the excessive force charge.

The arrest report was written by Barlow. Robles' name was typed in as a reporting officer.

Fort Myers police did not respond to a request for comment.

The report says the officers went to the 7-Eleven at 12:39 p.m. on April 15, 2018, in response to a disorderly, intoxicated male. No reference was made to Jones being that person prior to their contact with him.

Barlow made contact with Robles, who had been speaking with Jones, and a reference was made indicating Jones was agitated and uncooperative.

It took the officers a few minutes to convince Jones to step outside to speak with them. During this time the report described Jones as talking to himself, agitated, moving around and seemingly not understanding what was being asked of him.

The report said Jones regained some composure, collected his belongings and walked outside toward the police SUV.

Robles and Barlow started to speak with Jones, the report says, and then he "quickly ran back towards the front entrance of the 7-Eleven opened the front door, and turned around in a defensive posture with a closed fist as if he was going to strike Officer."

Barlow then used his Taser on Jones, handcuffed him and placed him in the police SUV.

Jones is also being represented by Jacksonville attorney Kristoffer Budhram from the law office of Conrad J. Benedetto.

The officers' body camera videos released by the attorneys tell a different story, beginning with Jones at the counter with items to purchase.

More:Two Fort Myers police officers on leave have been paid more than $330K to stay home for two years

More:Fort Myers police captain under investigation placed on paid administrative leave

More:Fort Myers police captain under administrative investigation for 2009 homicide case

The video shows Robles approaching Jones and asking him to go outside the store to talk. Jones starts to comply then stops, asks Robles what the problem is, asks him who his boss is and tries to shake his hand and then says he won't go outside. Robles tells Jones not to touch him.

At one point in the video Jones says he's done nothing wrong and Robles replies: "You're real close to doing something wrong."

Robles asks the 7-Eleven clerk, Natasha Brown, if she wants Jones out of the store and she says "he didn't do nothing."

Barlow then joins them and they finally convince Jones to go outside with Robles telling him not to be aggressive.

The clerk for a second time tells the officers that Jones did nothing wrong and Robles warns Jones not to touch him.

Outside the store, the officers try to get Jones to stand by the bumper of the police car but he edges closer to the store's doors and then pushes inside, followed by the officers. At that point, Barlow pulls his Taser and shoots Jones.

Jones falls to the floor, knocking over a water-filled display of flowers. He is screaming in pain.

The officers eventually handcuff Jones and place him in the back of the SUV.

There was no report from 7-Eleven asking police to come to the store because Jones was causing a problem, the lawsuit said.

Jones was arrested twice more in 2018, once in June on battery charges and again in October on drug charges. The June case has been dismissed. The October case will go to trial May 9.

His police record arrests for battery in 1994, burglary in 2008 and a number of traffic offenses.

Jones acknowledged at the press conference that he had a drug problem, at one time.

"Drugs used to be part of my life," he confirmed. "No longer." He declined to elaborate on the issues.

Want more News-Press breaking news coverage? If you're already a subscriber to the News-Press, thank you! If not, please subscribe to keep coverage of News-Press breaking news coming.

Connect with this reporter: MichaelBraunNP (Facebook) @MichaelBraunNP (Twitter)

