ALTON, Ill. (LN) — U.S. District Judge J. Phil Gilbert Berg denied a motion for summary judgment filed by Alton Police Sergeant Brian Brenner in a civil rights suit brought by Keith Brown, finding that the sergeant's use of a knee drop on a subdued suspect presented a genuine issue of material fact for a jury.
The case centers on an arrest on January 23, 2024, when Brown, who was homeless, called his mother and told her he had a firearm and intended to kill George Cantrell and then commit suicide. Brown’s mother alerted authorities, and Alton Police Department officers began searching for him.
Officer Thomas Gattuso spotted Brown running down the street and initiated a foot pursuit. Brenner, a sergeant, heard the radio traffic and joined the chase in his squad car before getting out to pursue Brown on foot.
Brenner told Brown to stop or he would be tased. Brown stopped and reached into his waistband. Brenner believed Brown was pulling a firearm and deployed his taser for a standard five-second cycle. Brown did pull a handgun and pointed it at Brenner as he was being tased.
Brown fell to the ground on his back and side, striking his head. About 10 seconds passed of the chase until the taser was deployed.
Brenner dropped his taser, drew his department-issued firearm, and repeatedly told Brown to drop the gun, even after Brown had already dropped it. Brenner then kicked the gun away.
Gattuso arrived on the scene, flipped Brown onto his stomach, and began handcuffing him. About 10 seconds passed deployment until Gattuso arrived.
While Brown was being handcuffed, he was lying face down, quiet, not verbally threatening, not trying to escape, and not actively resisting. Brenner, who is 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighs approximately 335 pounds, holstered his firearm, jumped into the air with both feet, and drove his knee into Brown’s side and back.
Brown immediately began making moaning and groaning noises. It took about 30 seconds for Gattuso and Brenner to finish handcuffing Brown. Brown has no recollection of the events.
Brenner argued he was entitled to summary judgment because no reasonable jury could find his conduct objectively unreasonable and he was entitled to qualified immunity.
The court rejected this argument, noting that a reasonable jury could find that a reasonable officer would not think it necessary to jump into the air and drive a knee into a suspect who was lying on the ground with another officer on top of him, not moving on his own accord, and not actively resisting.
The court found the right was clearly established, citing Seventh Circuit precedent in Miller v. Gonzalez. In Miller, the court found summary judgment inappropriate where an officer broke a suspect’s jaw after the suspect had complied with orders to lie down, notwithstanding the suspect’s previous attempt to flee.
The court stated that while Brown had previously fled and pulled a firearm, his resistance stopped once tased. Over 15 seconds elapsed between the taser deployment and the knee drop. During that time, Brenner drew his firearm and pointed it at Brown until Gattuso arrived.
The court concluded it would not be objectively reasonable for a jury to find that Brenner jumped and drove his knee into Brown to effectuate the arrest, given the totality of the circumstances.
The court denied Brenner’s motion for summary judgment.
By separate order, the court will set a telephone status conference to set dates for the Final Pretrial Conference and Trial.