Jury awards mechanic $76,000 in federal false arrest case against city of Huntsville police

A federal jury awarded $76,000 to a mechanic wrongly arrested by Huntsville police officers after he refused to show his ID while fixing a customer’s car in a church parking lot five years ago, his attorney announced Friday.

Roland Edger was awarded $75,000 for pain and suffering on Wednesday and another $1,000 for pain and suffering following the 2019 arrest by Huntsville police officers Krista McCabe and Cameron Perillat, according to civil rights attorney Hank Sherrod, who represented the mechanic.

U.S. District Court Judge Liles Burke ruled that McCabe and Perillat wrongly arrested Edger and that the Huntsville federal jury would decide what damages the mechanic was owed. He also found the city of Huntsville liable since it is the officers’ employer.

“Roland is very happy to close this chapter in his life,” said Sherrod. “Roland never thought it would take five years to get justice, but he is pleased with the judge’s ruling and the jury’s verdict. Justice delayed is better than no justice. Roland hopes that this verdict will lead to better practices among police officers.”

Huntsville police said in a statement WHERE that the department “respects the court’s decision and will incorporate additional training to ensure our practices are consistent with the court’s ruling.”

A customer called Edger in June 2019 and told him his wife’s red Toyota Camry had broken down at the church where she worked in Huntsville, according to federal court records.

Edger arrived a day or two later, picked up the car key from the church front desk, examined the car and concluded that the problem might be with the steering wheel or tire, and left.

He returned later that evening with his stepson, and the church’s security guard called 911 to report that “two Hispanic males were tampering with an employee’s car that had been left on the premises,” according to federal court documents.

Officer McCabe showed up about 30 minutes later, according to court records.

A 40 minute video The encounter and arrest, which was cleared by the federal appeals court, began when Officer McCabe approached Edger while he was jacking up a red Toyota Camry in the parking lot of the Progressive Union Missionary Baptist Church on the evening of June 10, 2019. stepson stood nearby.

McCabe began questioning Edger. Edger told McCabe that he was fixing a car for his customer. McCabe then pointed to a black hatchback parked nearby and asked whose car it was. Edger replied that it was his.

This was followed by 30 seconds of silence as the officer watched Edger work on the car, the video showed.

“Agreed. Take a break for me and do you all have driver’s licenses or ID on you?” McCabe asked in the video after the period of silence. By then, a second officer, Perilllat, arrived in the parking lot, the judges noted in their ruling.

“I’m not going to subject myself to no ID. Listen, call the lady right now. Listen, I don’t have time for this. I don’t mean to be rude or ugly, but… .,” Edger said as he stood up from working on the car.

“Okay. No, I need you to give me your ID or driver’s license,” Officer McCabe said in the video as Officer Perillat approached Edger from behind.

The bodycam showed Edger running his hair with both hands in apparent frustration and saying, “Listen, I don’t want you to run me over, um, for no good reason.”

“Are you refusing to give me your ID or driver’s license,” McCabe asked in the footage.

“I’m telling you, call this lady on the phone…,” Edger began to say before the footage showed Officer Perillat grabbing him from behind and pushing him into the car.

As Perrillat handcuffed him, Edger said twice that he would show them his ID.

“You are under arrest,” McCabe said in the footage.

“For what?” Edger asked.

“For obstruction,” McCabe replied.

“I didn’t do anything,” Edger said as the footage showed McCabe holding him down on the vehicle.

“So if you resist any further, you will also be charged with resisting arrest. Do you understand?” McCabe said in the footage.

“Listen, I’ll give you my ID, I’ll tell you what’s going on, this is ridiculous, I’m trying to get a customer’s car here. I’m in a hurry. My store is currently unlocked,” Edger said.

Eventually, Perillat found the ID after searching Edger’s wallet. In the video, McCabe explained to Edger’s stepson that Edger was going to jail because he obstructed an investigation by refusing to give her his ID.

According to Sherrod, there were two problems with the arrest. First, officers must have reasonable suspicion before they can arrest anyone, and McCabe has seen nothing criminal to warrant Edger’s seizure. Second, even if the seizure had been legal, McCabe could not lawfully demand an identification card during a non-traffic stop under Alabama law.

A panel of federal appeals court judges ruled that Edger did not have to provide identification because it was from Alabama Stop-and-Identify Statute only allows the officer to stop a person in public and “demand from him his name, address and an explanation for his actions,” based on reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed.

The city of Huntsville charged Edger with “obstructing government operations” for refusing to provide identification, but later dropped the charges. Edger sued in federal court for false arrest in violation of his civil rights. A federal judge in Huntsville granted the officer qualified immunity and dismissed the lawsuit.

On appeal, federal appellate judges rejected the officers’ argument that they had probable cause to arrest Edger because he refused to provide physical identification, and sent the lawsuit back to Burke’s courtroom.

Updated at 6:08 p.m. with comment from Huntsville Police.