COUNTRY CLUB HILLS — A man who says he was the victim of an unprovoked assault by police in 2018 has filed a federal lawsuit against the officers and the city of Country Club Hills.

Mohammad Wishah’s suit, filed in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Dec. 31, contends that on the evening of July 25, 2018, he was waiting for a food order in his cousin’s store, the Mally Supermarket, when he began talking to two Country Club Hills police officers.

The officers became frustrated with the conversation, the suit said, and ordered Wishah to leave. Officer Dennis Epps pushed him toward the doors and later ordered Officer Idriese Tabarly to “go take care of him” when Wishah tried to return to the market to pick up his food, the suit said.

Tabarly told a market employee to “back off, a war is about to happen,” then left the store and pushed Wishah to the ground, injuring his back, the suit alleged.

Wishah further claims that Epps later told a market employee to falsely report that the market wanted Wishah removed, and asked the market’s owner to delete video of the incident.

Officials from the small city in north St. Louis County did not return a request for comment Thursday.

Wishah made largely the same claims in April at a news conference calling for charges. In June, Tabarly, of Jennings, was charged in St. Louis County Circuit Court with fourth-degree assault, a misdemeanor. He has pleaded not guilty.

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