A 40-year-old man who was tased and thrown to the floor in a bar by Edgewater police officers is now suing the two officers for “unreasonable and illegal use of excessive force,” according to court documents.
Alfredo Gallegos is suing Edgewater police officers Paul Perez and Derek Stakley, who he says attacked him on Dec. 30, 2023, and caused “serious physical injuries and post-traumatic stress,” according to the lawsuit filed earlier this month in Jefferson County District Court. The suit does not name the city of Edgewater or the police department.
On that December night, Gallegos was at an Edgewater bar on Harlan Street when Perez, Stakley and several other police officers entered the building, the lawsuit stated.
Perez shouted at Gallegos to come over and, within 30 seconds of the “unprovoked demand,” drew his taser and pointed it at the 40-year-old, according to the lawsuit.
When Gallegos complied, walking slowly toward the group of police officers, Perez shot Gallegos twice with the taser, shouted “Don’t (expletive) walk at me” and threw him to the floor, the lawsuit claims.
“Unable to brace himself, and spasming involuntarily from the electric shocks, Mr. Gallegos hit his head on the bar ledge,” Gallegos’ attorneys wrote in the document. They said that the blow caused head trauma and permanently scarred the man.
The lawsuit also claims that, while Gallegos was actively convulsing and bleeding on the bar’s floor, Perez and Stakley pointed their guns at him, threatened to shoot him, kicked him and stomped on his back
Gallegos was arrested that night and charged with obstructing a police officer. Those charges were later dismissed.
Edgewater’s interim chief of police Melanie Thornton declined to comment and said the city doesn’t comment on pending litigation or personnel matters.
Thornton said the city’s police department still employs Stakley, but Perez resigned in lieu of termination in October 2024.
And this isn’t Perez’s first use of excessive force, the lawsuit claims.
Perez previously served as a deputy for the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, but he was fired for “improper conduct” after “unjustifiably” pointing his gun at people he pulled over three times in two weeks, according to the lawsuit.
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
According to the lawsuit, Edgewater police officials hired Perez just five weeks after he was fired in Boulder County.
The pattern of excessive force continued after Perez joined the Edgewater Police Department, according to the lawsuit.
“Two days before he assaulted Mr. Gallegos, Officer Perez pressed his loaded weapon … into the back of the head of an already detained suspect while threatening to ‘blow his (expletive) brains out’,” the lawsuit stated.
And the night after the attack, while other officers arrested an intoxicated woman, Perez targeted her partner, according to the lawsuit. Perez shoved the man twice, shouting profanities and threatening to send him to detox if he did not leave the area.
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