A Shreveport resident is suing the city and several police officers for alleged civil rights violations, including false arrest and excessive use of force. Terry Owens filed the complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on August 21, 2024, naming the City of Shreveport and multiple police officers as defendants.
According to the complaint, on August 22, 2023, Terry Owens and his son Jordan Owens were involved in a series of confrontations with Shreveport police officers. The trouble began when Jordan Owens contested a citation issued by the city's property standards department for allegedly illegally parked vehicles. Shortly after this dispute, three police vehicles arrived at their home. Days later, Terry Owens questioned a city worker about why they had aggressively confronted his son. This led to an altercation where the worker falsely accused Terry Owens of threatening him with bodily harm.
On August 22, Officer Rodney Medlin stopped Terry Owens' vehicle under pretextual reasons such as illegal tinted windows and an expired inspection sticker—both minor infractions that typically do not result in custodial arrests. When Terry and Jordan Owens began recording the encounter, Medlin became irate and called for backup. Officers Marcellas Anderson, Brandon Davenport, Ryan Daily, Sgt. Michael Mills, and Officer Michael Schultz arrived at the scene. Despite being compliant and attempting to show his ID card, Terry Owens was forcibly removed from his vehicle and assaulted by multiple officers who handcuffed him tightly enough to cause bruising and an elbow injury.
Jordan Owens was also forcibly extracted from the car but was released without charges after showing his identification card. Both father and son experienced loss of liberty, embarrassment, humiliation, mental distress, pain, and suffering due to these events.
Terry Owens was booked into Shreveport City Jail by Jailer Jonah Johnson on charges related to improperly tinted windows and resisting an officer. During booking, Johnson allegedly twisted Terry's arm causing further injury and slammed him against a wall without cause. All charges against Terry were dismissed on January 22, 2024.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages for mental distress, loss of liberty, invasion of privacy among other injuries; punitive damages against individual defendants; attorney fees; court costs; and any other relief deemed just by the court.
Representing plaintiffs Terry Owens and Jordan Owens is attorney Nelson W. Cameron from Shreveport. The case has been assigned Case ID: 5:24-cv-01135.