A Kansas deputy is facing a lawsuit for excessive use of force after driving into a Black man who was running shirtless across a field fleeing a traffic stop.

The incident, caught on an officer's dashcam, happened on Aug. 15 when Kiowa County Sheriff's Deputy Jeremy Rodriguez chased 35-year-old Lionel Womack, who is a former police officer. According to the Associated Press, Womack said multiple officers pulled him over, but he wasn't driving above the speed limit nor was he under the influence of anything. The former policeman also said he had a valid driver's license, insurance and registration.

"When the first officer turned his lights on, I pulled over and complied exactly as you're supposed to," Womack said in a statement. "But when three additional vehicles pulled up quickly and started to surround my car, I freaked out."

That's when the 35-year-old took off running.

"It was a fight or flight moment and I was going to live," he said. "I felt like I was in danger. This was out in the country, late at night, and it was dark. So I ran for my life. That's what you see in the dashcam video. I'm running in an open field and I'm scared."

In his complaint, Womack said he suffered serious injuries after Rodriguez intentionally ran him over with his patrol truck. Attorney Michael Kuckelman provided video of the incident to the court and filed the lawsuit against Rodriguez, accusing him of excessive force and being "callously indifferent" to Womack's civil rights.

According to the complaint, the deputy violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, which protect against unreasonable searches and deprivation of life and liberty. The lawsuit states that Rodriguez "intentionally swerved" the truck and struck Womack, aiming to cause severe harm or death.

"Such use of force was not objectively reasonable because neither [Rodriguez] nor anyone else could claim any objective fear of imminent bodily harm by Mr. Womack when he was run over," the complaint states.

Womack, who left the police department earlier this year to focus on his own security business, was returning home from a business trip to California when the incident happened. A highway patrol officer in western Kansas first spotted Womack and initiated a chase over "an alleged traffic violation." Multiple officers joined the chase before Womack ended up on the dirt and took off on foot.

Dashcam footage from a Pratt County sheriff's deputy's vehicle shows the moment Rodriguez drove into the fleeing man. The 16-minute clip also shows multiple officers standing over Womack as he lies handcuffed and motionless in the dirt.

"The dashcam video is disturbing," Kuckelman said. "It is impossible to watch a video of a deputy driving his truck over Mr. Womack without feeling sick. There was nowhere for Mr. Womack to go. It was an open field, and he was trapped, yet the deputy drove his truck over him anyway."

The attorney said he has urged the sheriff's department to fire Rodriguez, but he remains on the job.

"Your cover-up and on-going protection of Deputy Rodriguez is wrong and in the long run, harms all the honorable members of law enforcement," Kuckelman wrote in a letter to Kiowa County Sheriff Chris Tedder.

Womack remains in jail, facing several misdemeanor traffic citations, as well as charges of attempting to elude a law enforcement officer by engaging in reckless driving and interference with a law enforcement officer.

According to KIRO7, Womack has multiple law enforcement officials in his family, including his wife and mother who serve as officers. Zee Womack said she's still trying to understand what happened to her husband after watching the video multiple times.

"I am a police officer as well, and I feel like especially right now it is a really difficult time to be a police officer. We don't always get the support, I guess, that would be helpful in this occupation," she said shortly after watching the video. "And this makes it a lot more difficult to be an officer."

Lionel Womack

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