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On July 27, 2014, Officer David Gerlach noticed two men with a flat tire on the side of the road. He ‘offered his assistance’ with changing the tire, but the men, Ronald Carden and Nicholas Thomas, politely declined his services, and the ‘helpful’ cop began to leave. However, instead of leaving, the officer decided to harass the men for no apparent reason.

Officer David Gerlach approached the men again and began running their license plates even though no laws had been broken. He told Carden, the passenger, to “come back here for a second.” When Carden walked toward the officer, as he was instructed to do, the officer felt it was necessary to place his hands on Carden. Carden attempted to back up from the officer, but Officer Gerlach approached him again and grabbed his shirt. Carden, fearing for his safety, punched the officer and ran.

Off camera, you can hear the officer using a taser on Carden for several seconds. Later, you can hear gunshots and then silence – Carden is dead.

Prior to Officer Gerlach placing his hands on Carden, this was a peaceful encounter in which Carden complied with everything the officer had requested. In fact, it wasn’t until after the officer decided to assault Carden that things took a turn for the worse. This situation was created entirely by Officer Gerlach and his attempt to escalate the situation to where physical violence was necessary.

Now, the family has filed a $3 million wrongful-death lawsuit in U.S. District Court against KPD Officer David Gerlach, Police Chief David Rausch, and the city of Knoxville. According to the lawsuit, Officer David Gerlach executed Carden while he was running away.

Mr. Carden disengaged from [Officer Gerlach], stood up, and turned his back to [Officer] Gerlach. While still on the ground, [Officer] Gerlach then shot Mr. Carden in the back, twice. Mr. Carden was lying motionless face down on the ground when [Officer] Gerlach stood up and shot him four more times

If you’re reading this article and shaking your head in disbelief, thinking that a Knoxville Police Department officer would never try to escalate a situation or use excessive force, please, take a look at the story below:

As we reported yesterday, another lawsuit has been filed against KPD over the beating of an unarmed man by a couple of Knoxville Police Department Officers. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, states that officer Fred Kimber then spotted Rodriguez walking down the street and proceded to detain him by placing him face-forward against his cruiser – and then threatened to tase him when he began complaining about the tightness of the handcuffs.

Kimber then called for backup, the lawsuit says, before officer Thurman “proceeded to beat [Rodriguez] to the point of losing consciousness and being rushed to the emergency room and admitted for critical care.”

You can read the full article by clicking here: http://www.copblock.org/136124/lawsuit-after-video-shows-tn-cops-beat-unarmed-man-fracture-face/