Ronald Bozung v. Travis Rawson

439 F. App'x 513
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedOctober 7, 2011
Docket10-1050
StatusUnpublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 439 F. App'x 513 (Ronald Bozung v. Travis Rawson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ronald Bozung v. Travis Rawson, 439 F. App'x 513 (6th Cir. 2011).

Opinions

CURTIS L. COLLIER, Chief District Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellant Robert Bozung (“Bozung”) appeals an order of the district court granting a motion for summary judgment in favor of Defendant-Appellees Travis Rawson (“Officer Rawson”), John Wilson (“Officer Wilson”) and the Charter Township of DeWitt (or the “Township”) in regards to Bozung’s federal 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims. As previously stipulated by the parties, all claims against Officer Wilson on appeal have been dismissed.

For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the district court’s judgment.

I. Relevant Facts/Procedural History

A. Factual Background

On June 6, 2007, Bozung was returning from a trip to a local grocery store in Lansing, Michigan. Bozung was fifty-four (54) years old and had health issues arising from a stroke he suffered at age twenty-eight (28). He had also suffered from a fractured ankle and had a hip replacement due to a bone deficiency.

One of Bozung’s neighbors had asked him to give her a ride to buy groceries; however, Bozung explained to her that he could not drive because his license was suspended. As a result, the neighbor suggested that Bozung allow a friend of hers to drive his truck. Subsequently, the three of them — Bozung, his neighbor, and his neighbor’s friend — drove to the grocery store.

As the three approached Bozung’s apartment complex upon their return, Officer Rawson of the DeWitt Township Police Department stopped Bozung’s vehicle because Officer Rawson considered the rosary hanging from Bozung’s rear-view mirror to be a vision obstruction. The unknown driver of Bozung’s vehicle stopped the vehicle in the middle of the street and fled the scene. Officer Rawson pursued the individual in his patrol car and called for back up, but he was unable to apprehend the individual. When he returned to the truck, he observed Bozung, who had moved over into the driver’s seat, slowly driving the vehicle into the parking lot of the apartment complex. According to Officer Rawson, he ordered Bozung to stop the vehicle; Bozung, however, claims Officer Rawson did not say anything to him nor did he motion for Bozung to stop the vehicle.

Once Officer Rawson approached the truck, he made contact with Bozung and his neighbor. He asked them to identify the fleeing driver, but both claimed they did not know him. In Officer Rawson’s opinion, Bozung was obviously intoxicated. He smelled of alcohol, later registered a .18% blood alcohol level, and had urinated himself. Officer Rawson confirmed with dispatch that Bozung was the owner of the truck. He also ran a LEIN check for outstanding warrants. Bozung did have a misdemeanor warrant for failure to appear in a local court. Once Officer Rawson advised Bozung there was a warrant for his arrest, he ordered Bozung to get out of the truck and informed him that he was under arrest. It is at this point that Bozung’s and Defendant-Appellees’s versions of events differ greatly.

1. Bozung’s Version of Events

According to Bozung, he exited the truck and complied with Officer Rawson’s [515]*515instructions to face the truck. He then placed his hands on the bed of his truck. At that time, Officer Rawson asked Bozung to spread his legs. Although Bozung states he told Officer Rawson that he was disabled and could not physically comply with the orders quickly, Bozung states Officer Rawson began kicking the inside of Bozung’s legs. Bozung also asserts he told Officer Rawson his age, and he told him that he had a total right hip-replacement and had plate and screws in his right ankle. In Bozung’s view, because he was not moving quickly enough, Officer Raw-son told him they could handle the situation “the easy way or the hard way.” Then, despite Bozung’s protests, Officer Rawson grabbed one of Bozung’s arms and brought Bozung down on to the pavement or asphalt. Bozung contends “he was thrown to the ground almost immediately after advising the officer of his handicap.” In addition, he states Officer Rawson failed to advise him as to why he was being arrested, and Officer Rawson did not ask him to place his hands or arms behind his back before he was thrown to the ground. According to Bozung, his interaction with Officer Rawson, prior to being taken down to the ground, lasted approximately two to three minutes.

Once Bozung was on the ground, Officer Rawson pulled Bozung’s arms behind his back to handcuff him. Bozung claims he asked Officer Rawson to loosen the handcuffs because they were too tight. However, Officer Rawson refused to do so.

At some point, Officer John Wilson, a public safety officer at the Capitol Region Airport Authority, arrived at the scene. Bozung suggests Officer Wilson was involved in throwing Bozung to the ground, and he specifically alleges Officer Wilson put his foot on Bozung’s neck while he was lying, face-down, on the pavement. Still, Bozung admits he could not see Officer Wilson while he was lying face-down on the ground. Bozung also alleges Officer Rawson had his knee in the center of Bozung’s back. As a result of these interactions, Bozung suffered from lacerations to his face, a broken thumb, and permanent spinal cord injuries.

In response to the Defendant-Appellees’ motions for summary judgment, Bozung presented the deposition testimonies of two witnesses to corroborate parts of his story. James Leggions (“Leggions”), one of Bozung’s neighbors, testified he saw the events unfold as the driver fled from Bozung’s truck. He later saw Bozung get out of his vehicle. To him, Bozung appeared to be holding onto the back of his truck to keep his balance. However, he did not hear Bozung say anything to the officers, and he could not generally understand what the officers said to Bozung, except he thought Officer Rawson ordered Bozung to stay inside the truck. Nonetheless, he testified it was clear Bozung was having trouble walking, and in his opinion, Officer Rawson “slammed” Bozung to the ground because Bozung would not give the identity of the driver. According to Leggions, it was Officer Rawson who placed his foot somewhere on Bozung’s neck.

Melanie Harris (“Harris”), who was supposedly Bozung’s girlfriend at the time of the incident, testified that she saw Officer Rawson kicking Bozung’s legs apart when Bozung first got out of his truck. She also states she heard Bozung asking the officer to stop because he was disabled. In addition, Harris contends other individuals in the forming crowd, including herself, shouted at Officer Rawson to tell him that Bozung was “handicapped.” Despite their protests, Officer Rawson told Bozung he must “want this done the hard way,” and he twisted Bozung’s arm and slammed him to the ground. According to her testimony, it was the second officer, Officer Wil[516]*516son, who placed his foot on the upper part of Bozung’s back. Like Leggions, she believed Officer Rawson threw Bozung to the ground immediately after Bozung informed him of his disabilities.

As a result of these events, Bozung claims he “suffered lacerations to the face which required stitches[,] ... [h]is thumb was broken[,] ... [and] [t]he handcuffs cut his hand, leaving permanent marks.” Bozung also contends he suffered more serious injuries. In the three weeks following his arrest, “he began to lose the use of his arms and had trouble walking. He experienced numbness from the back of his neck, between the shoulders, working down both arms, then down his legs.

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Bluebook (online)
439 F. App'x 513, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ronald-bozung-v-travis-rawson-ca6-2011.