TEMPE, Ariz. — Body camera video shows a man, Ivaughn Oakry, with his 1-year-old child in his arms being tased by multiple Tempe Police officers.
Oakry's attorneys sent a notice of claim seeking $5.5 million dollars for excessive use of force, trauma and a violation of Oakry's constitutional rights.
Tempe police were responding to a domestic violence call in June of this year.
“Stop touching me,” A woman can be heard saying on the 911 call. She would be outside the apartment when police arrived.
Officers went into the apartment when Oakry opened the door.
As the officer attempted to detain Oakry, he backed into his residence, telling the officer he did not want him there.
“This officer didn’t have a warrant to enter that home. He had no reason to be in that home," said Heather Hamel, Oakry's attorney.
Hamel said the officer was violating Oakry's Fourth Amendment rights by entering the building. Hamel pointed to an analysis by an outside police expert which said the entrance was unlawful.
Hamel further said the use of force against Oakry was unreasonable.
“It is never acceptable to tase someone holding a 1-year-old child," Hamel said.
The notice of claim alleges officers did not need to tase at all, let alone three tasers at once. The notice of claim points to a training slide show they allege Tempe has used in the past, telling officers to be "predators not prey."
We brought the video to retired Phoenix Police officer Andy Anderson, who now serves as a police expert. He did not see things the same as Oakry's attorney.
“He opens the door…they have reasonable suspicion to believe he is the individual she has described and her three children are in that home,” Anderson said. “This isn’t something officers train for with an individual who picked up a child while someone is pointing a taser at them.”
Earlier this year, the Tempe Police Department said they did not believe its officers used excessive force. The officers involved were only sent to additional training.
Instead, Tempe Police chief Sylvia Moir pointed the finger at the father who picked up his 1-year-old child.
"He made a choice to bring violence into that home," Moir said