SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. -- Dashcam video has been released from a police chase in South Haven that resulted in the suspect filing a lawsuit, claiming police brutality.
The arrest took place back in July of 2013. All of the charges were later dropped, after it was determined that he was suffering from a bad diabetic reaction during the incident.
South Haven police noticed Michael Kinney’s truck swerving on the roadway, thinking he might be intoxicated.
Kinney is seen in the video narrowly missing mailboxes as he drives by. Then Kinney is seen swerving into the oncoming lane, driving on the wrong side of the road. He continues to drive, despite the cruiser's sirens.
Then Kinney can be seen barely misses a car as it drives by.
Kinney claims in his lawsuit that patrol officers followed his vehicle so closely that it caused him to crash.
Moments after that, Kinney’s pick-up goes off the road, becomes airborne, then finally coming to a stop.
“Sir, stay in the vehicle, do not move!” an officer is heard shouting. “Do not move. Put your hands on the steering wheel. Hands on the wheel.”
More officers then approach Kinney, before taking him out of the vehicle.
“Get out the other side. Well, wait. Keep your hands on the wheel. We will open the door. You try anything, you will get shot. Keep your hands on the steering wheel until an officer opens the door," said an officer.“ "You want to get tased? Get out.”
Officer are seen pulling Kinney out of the pick-up.
Kinney claims he was put in a choke-hold and his face was pressed into the gravel after he was pulled from the vehicle.
After showing the officers his diabetic warning label on his necklace, South Haven Police called in paramedics, who determined that Kinney was not intoxicated. Instead the level of his blood sugar was dangerously low.
Kinney also claims in his lawsuit that he was denied a ride to the hospital by paramedics.
“Alright, Michael we are going to get going. Probably better that I take you to the doctor anyways, you definitely need to go there," a paramedic is heard saying to Kinney. “Figure out what’s going on and why your sugar keeps going down. Okay, alright good to meet you then, alright.”
Kinney is then taken into the back of the patrol car where police took him to be checked out at a nearby hospital.
While in the backseat of the patrol car, the officer can be heard adjusting Kinney's handcuffs.
Officer: “You are in a kind of awkward position."
Kinney: "Yah."
Officer"Does that feel better?"
Kinney: "Yah."
Again, all charges were dropped against Kinney and he was not intoxicated at all during the incident
Kinney’s attorney said that he still has yet to see the dash video.
Initially told by police it didn’t exist.
FOX 17 spoke to the police chief on Wednesday, who said that they were able to recover the video evidence after thinking themselves it no longer existed.
"The reason that there wasn't video initially we don't save them past 60 days, but we do sometimes retain videos for training purposes, and this was a textbook stop in many many ways,"" said Chief Tom Martin. "It will certainly shed a lot of factual light on the case, and my hope is that it will be reevaluated and it will move forward through the system in the appropriate manner."
We will continue to make updates should something move forward with the lawsuit that’s been filed.
