A Black man was seen on camera arrested by San Antonio police officer after officers mistook him for a domestic violence suspect in 2020 has filed the officers and Chief William McManus, court records obtained  by the KSAT 12. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Mathias Ometu on Aug. 25 accuses the arresting officers of using excessive force, assault, and violating Ometu’s constitutional rights. Ometu was arrested in August 2020 after police stopped him for “fitting the description” of a suspect they were seeking, although the victim’s description was different from Ometu’s physical profile, according to body camera footage. The video was released days after Ometu’s arrest. At the time of Ometu’s arrest it made national headlines and sparked debates about if someone’s is detained by police should identify themselves even if he or she isn;t charged with a crime.

Ometu wasn’t the suspect police were searching for, but he was arrested and accused of assaulting two police officers during the encounter. The criminal charges against Ometu, were later dropped within days at the request of the officers who arrested him and Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales. While jogging Ometu said he noticed a police car slow down by him before speeding past him and turning back around toward him. Ometu says he felt targeted by the police, who were looking for Darren Smith Jr. Smith was later arrested on an unrelated robbery warrant.

Police told Ometu they wanted to take him to the apartment complex so the victim could identify him as the suspect, he persisted on remaining where he was.

“Once those doors close on you, you never know when they’re going to open again,” Ometu said during a press conference after he was released from jail.

McManus said officers acted appropriately during the arrest and that they requested to have the charges dropped in an effort to help the community heal in a time where policing and race was being scrutinized on a national level.

Ometu’s 23-page lawsuit includes a side-by-side picture of him and Smith, showing how different the two men look.

A spokeswoman for the city attorney’s office released the following statement:

“The Chief conducted a review of the incident and found that the officers acted appropriately. We will seek a speedy resolution of this matter in the courts.”

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