Rourke & Blumenthal is honored to represent the estate of Alex Menhenett in a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from a tragic incident involving the Whitehall Police Department that should have never happened. Alex Menhenett, a 43-year-old disabled man, was simply trying to purchase a space heater for his apartment at a Walmart when he was unlawfully arrested for public intoxication and subjected to an excessive and deadly force at the hands of an auxiliary Whitehall police officer who was working a special duty assignment.
The officer’s body camera footage shows that this incident started as a cordial conversation between Alex and the officer in the store’s self-checkout area. The self-checkout was only open to Walmart Spark drivers, not regular customers. Alex had a disability as well as a severe traumatic brain injury sustained years earlier, which left him deaf without the use of a cochlear implant. We believe this contributed to his confusion about how to purchase the heater. Instead of guiding him on where to complete the purchase, the officer accused Alex of being intoxicated due to the smell of alcohol and his balance issues, which have been a consistent challenge for Alex since his brain injury.
After a brief exchange about the alcohol issue, the officer proceeded to arrest Alex for public intoxication. When Alex did not immediately comply, the officer performed a "leg sweep takedown" move on Alex where he forcefully slammed his head on the cement floor, causing Alex to suffer a brain herniation and other injuries which caused his tragic death.
As a result, we filed a suit against the officer, the Whitehall Police, a private security company that employed the officer, and Walmart. We have alleged that Alex was subjected to an unlawful arrest and excessive, deadly force that caused his wrongful death. Although the officer claimed that he was arresting Alex for public intoxication, there is no such crime in Ohio. The charge was changed to disorderly conduct on the basis that Alex was at risk of harming himself because of his intoxication. The irony of this case is that the officer used lethal force to accomplish an arrest for a minor misdemeanor charge aimed to protect the offender from hurting himself.
Our team is committed to seeking justice for Alex Menhenett and his family while working to protect the constitutional rights of Ohio citizens not to be subjected to unlawful arrests and excessive force by overzealous police officers.
If your rights have been violated by unlawful police actions, contact us today. Our Columbus personal injury attorneys are ready to defend your rights and pursue the compensation you're entitled to.