ALCOA (WATE) – A Blount County woman has filed a civil rights suit in federal court against the city of Alcoa, its police chief and other officers, Blount County, its sheriff, and several people at the Blount County Jail saying an officer struck her in the knee with such force it fractured her kneecap and tore ligaments.

Annissa Colson, whom the lawsuit states suffers from multiple anxiety disorders, was arrested on June 23 by Alcoa Officer Dustin Cook on a DUI charge. The suit states she was involved in a single-vehicle accident and refused a field sobriety test, but agreed to a blood alcohol test.

When she and Officer Cook arrived at Blount Memorial Hospital, the suit says Colson changed her mind and began suffering a “crippling panic attack, gasping for breath, in obvious distress.” The suit says despite being only a few feet from the emergency room, the officer did not take her inside to seek help but instead forced her back inside the patrol car. That’s when the suit says Cook and another officer, Arik Wilson, became violent.Web Extra:

“At one point, Wilson violently struck [Colson’s] right knee with his own knee and a loud ‘pop’ was heard and recorded by Cook’s body-worn camera,” reads the suit. The suit says Wilson became concerned about Colson’s injury due to the fact she was screaming in pain, but they continued to physically force her in to the patrol car using pressure point tactics. Cook contacted his supervisor to ask if they should have Colson’s knee examined, but the supervisor said to take her to the jail.

When they got to the jail, the suit says Colson was strapped into a chair, forced to wear a helmet and not allowed to drink water or use the bathroom, forcing her to urinate on herself, at which onlooking officers laughed. The suit says a jail nurse examined her knee, but said there was nothing wrong with it.

Eventually after she was released from jail and went to the hospital, a doctor initially thought she was the victim of domestic abuse and found she was suffering from a kneecap fracture, torn ACL and torn LCL, along with buses, contusions and abrasions to various parts of her body. Colson says she continues to suffer from the injuries and is having to see a physical therapist. She also says her TennCare coverage will not cover treatment for her injuries.

The lawsuit notes that while Wilson was wearing a body camera, it malfunctioned and did not record the events at the hospital or jail. The suit says Cook’s camera was rolling during most of the incidents and captured audio of Colson’s knee popping, but his was also disabled for several minutes at the jail. The officers claimed she was constantly fighting them and at one point kicked one of the officers.

Colson and her attorney, Lance K. Baker, are seeking $2 million from the various parties named in the suit.