A Lexington Lyft driver was charged with DUI and then proven innocent. Now he’s suing.
A former Lexington Lyft driver who claims that he lost his job after police charged him with driving under the influence, a charge that would later be dismissed, filed a federal lawsuit last week seeking damages.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of Liam Mitchell accuses the officers of taking him into custody and searching him without probable cause, and arresting him without reasonable suspicion or probable cause, among other things.
The charge in question was filed on Jan. 25, 2019. At 12:22 a.m. that day, Mitchell was working for Lyft and driving a customer, according to the lawsuit.
Lexington police officer Benjamin Evans was patrolling in the area of East Vine and Rose streets and pulled Mitchell over. Evans said he saw Mitchell swerving in his lane, but the lawsuit argues that body camera footage does not show Mitchell swerving.
After stopping Mitchell’s vehicle, Evans asked Mitchell if he’d had anything to drink that night. Mitchell said he had one Bud Light at his house earlier that evening, according to the lawsuit.
Evans had Mitchell get out of the car for a field sobriety test, but during the test Evans “inexplicably and abruptly stopped the HGN test and began to speak with another officer on his radio,” according to the lawsuit.
Evans told Mitchell that other officers were on the way to conduct further field sobriety tests. While waiting, Evans went back to his patrol car and called Lyft to let them know he’d pulled over one of their drivers. The lawsuit accuses Evans of telling the company that he would “hopefully get him so he cannot drive for Lyft anymore.”
Evans told Lyft that Mitchell had been “at a party and was drinking when he decided to turn on the Lyft App and start driving,” according to the lawsuit.
The Lexington Police Department does not have a policy regarding calls made by officers to ride-share companies after the arrest or stop of one of their drivers, the department said Monday.
When another officer arrived, Evans got out of his patrol car and told the officer that he hadn’t smelled alcohol, but saw Mitchell swerving in his lane, according to the lawsuit.
At some point Mitchell told the police officers that he would take a breathalyzer to show that he was sober, but police officer Zachary West said they were waiting on other officers to arrive.
Police officer Katherine Chapman arrived and administered field sobriety tests. The lawsuit argues that Mitchell did not show signs of impairment.
After the tests, Chapman and police officer Curtis Gray allegedly turned off their body cameras and had a conversation that was not recorded, according to the lawsuit.
It is not against policy for body cameras to be turned off during a conversation between two officers about an investigation, the Lexington Police Department said Monday.
Chapman administered other field sobriety tests, told Mitchell he did not pass them and placed him under arrest, according to the lawsuit.
When Mitchell asked how he failed the sobriety tests, Chapman said “your eyes. And you did not keep your feet pointed above 6 inches or around 6 inches. They were pretty low to the ground,” according to the lawsuit.
Mitchell asked again for a breathalyzer test to show that he was sober, and was told the test could be performed at the jail, according to the lawsuit.
Officers always perform evidentiary breath tests at the jail rather than in the field, though they can perform preliminary breath tests along with other field sobriety tests, according to the police department. Any tests done in the field are not evidentiary.
Chapman transported Mitchell to the jail, where a breathalyzer was conducted and came back .000, indicating no alcohol in his system, according to the lawsuit. Chapman and Gray requested blood after the breath test, and Mitchell agreed.
The case was held up in court for months until the blood test results came back to show no alcohol in Mitchell’s system, according to the lawsuit. The case was dismissed on June 27, 2019.
The lawsuit names Evans, Chapman, West and Gray as defendants in the case. Also named are Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, Lexington police Chief Lawrence Weathers and “unknown John and Jane Doe Officers,” according to court records.
The police department did give a statement on the lawsuit itself.
A response in the case has not yet been filed.
This story was originally published January 27, 2020 at 5:46 PM.
