ROYAL OAK, Mich. – A man whose arrest in Royal Oak on St. Patrick's Day went viral after it was recorded on cellphone video has filed a lawsuit against the city's police chief and four officers on allegations they used unconstitutional excessive force.
Travis Hermiz, 25, of Farmington Hills, filed the lawsuit Monday.
Hermiz was at Black Finn on March 17 when he got into a physical fight with another man, Stuart, after Hermiz saw Stuart get into an altercation with a woman he was talking to, the lawsuit said.
Hermiz was escorted out of the bar by bouncers. “It appears that the Black Finn bouncers may have mistaken Mr. Hermiz for the individual named Stuart who had attacked the two girls and then headbutted Mr. Hermiz," the lawsuit said.
The bouncers “handed him (Hermiz) into the custody of Royal Oak police officers who were waiting at the door," the lawsuit said.
The cellphone video shows Hermiz being arrested by several officers.
Hermiz's lawsuit said he was "pinned, unresisting and facedown" as officers held his neck and put him in a headlock.
Hermiz blew a 0.112 when given a Breathalyzer at the Royal Oak Police Department while he was being held on resisting arrest and disorderly conduct charges, the lawsuit said.
When he was released, he was treated at Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital and then went to Henry Ford Hospital in West Bloomfield -- where he underwent a CT scan and received a referral to investigate a closed head injury, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit doesn't set an amount Hermiz is seeking. It just asks for reasonable costs for medical and attorneys.
The lawsuit names Police Chief Corrigan O'Donohue, but doesn't name the specific officers.
Travis Hermiz lawsuit against Royal Oak police