UPDATE: Last week we told you that a former Lafayette Police Chief who also is an attorney had filed a civil rights suit against his former department on behalf of a man who claims he was beaten by an officer.
We've received more information from Lafayette City-Parish Government. Although LCG officials could not comment directly on pending litigation, spokesman Jamie Angelle did answer our questions about the status of the officer involved.
The officer, identified as Marvin Martin, is no longer employed by the Lafayette Police Department.
"He resigned under investigation. His resignation date is 6/16/2021," Angelle tells KATC.
We also asked about the investigation; Angelle tells us that the LPD's Internal Affairs division began an investigation but then Martin resigned.
"A criminal investigation was completed and was forwarded to the District Attorney's Office for review," Angelle said.
As we reported last week, former Lafayette Police Chief Toby Aguillard filed suit against his former employers on behalf of a man who claims an officer violated his civil rights.
Jonathan Alvey alleges that a Lafayette Police officer violated his civil rights in April 2021 by beating him in a parking lot. The officer, identified in the suit as Marvin Martin, is alleged to be a former UL football player and much larger than the plaintiff.
Aguillard, who is an attorney, was Lafayette Police Chief until January 2020, when he resigned.
The suit alleges that the entire incident - which resulted in Alvey being arrested on a charge of resisting an officer - was captured on the officer's body cam, as well as several surveillance cameras in the area where it happened. All those videos are in the possession of LCG now, the suit alleges.
The suit also alleges that the resisting charge was dismissed by the city prosecutor's office in September, for a lack of probable cause. Alvey didn't commit any crimes, the suit alleges, and any reasonable officer would have realized that. The officer's actions were "objectively unreasonable," the suit alleges.
The lawsuit claims that Alvey suffered injuries in the incident, including an aggravation of a pre-existing knee injury. It also alleges that he now suffers from PTSD.
We've reached out to LCG for a response, but they generally won't comment on pending litigation. We'll update this story with their response.
Here's the lawsuit so you can read it for yourself:
