‘Metro Mullet’ officer accused of excessive force in lawsuit

A Clark County man is alleging in a lawsuit that a Metropolitan Police Department officer known by some social media users as “Metro Mullet” pointed a gun at his head and then slammed him multiple times against a patrol car during a traffic stop in downtown Las Vegas this year.

Alexis Tellez filed the lawsuit Tuesday in District Court against Metro and the officer, identified only as “Officer C.,” that accuses them of excessive force and false arrest, arguing that he complied with officers after he was pulled over for allegedly making an illegal U-turn near Fremont Street and Sixth Street in March.

“Officer C.’s use of force in pointing his gun immediately at Plaintiff’s head as he exited the patrol vehicle while Plaintiff had his hands up and vehicle stopped was disproportionate to any legitimate need to effectuate the initial traffic stop or maintain control of a compliant, restrained person who was posing no threat,” the lawsuit alleges.

“Further, Officer C. continuing to apply force after Plaintiff was handcuffed and under complete control by slamming and pinning his head on the window and then later forcefully pinning Plaintiff against the front bars for multiple minutes was disproportionate to any legitimate need to maintain control of a compliant, restrained person who was posing no threat,” the lawsuit said.

Metro and Tellez’s attorneys declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Traffic violation prompts Metro stop

After police attempted to initiate a traffic stop, Tellez turned into a parking lot to avoid “pedestrian and vehicle congestion” when four Metro officers riding in one vehicle pulled behind him, the lawsuit stated.

The complaint alleges that as Officer C. ordered Tellez out of his car, another officer, identified only as officer Brightmon, then opened the driver’s side door of Tellez’s vehicle before grabbing him. Despite having his hands up and then placing them behind his back, the complaint said, Tellez alleged the assault began.

“Once Tellez was up against the vehicle by Brightmon and under his control, Officer C. slammed Tellez’s head against the patrol vehicle multiple times before pinning his head on the window by pressing his forearm against the back of his neck,” the complaint said.

Tellez also alleged in the complaint that Officer C. accused him of drinking and when Tellez accused officers of violating his Fourth Amendment rights, he was thrown against the patrol vehicle and then had his head slammed on the hood.

“During this escalation of force and prolonged restraint, Tellez did not physically resist, attempt to escape, and was not posing a threat to anyone, which is supported by the body-worn camera of the officers on scene,” the lawsuit stated. “Continuing to press his restrained body against the vehicle’s guard rail and then repeatedly shoving Tellez into the hood of the vehicle served no reasonable need. Tellez was also visibly in pain while this was happening and later had significant bruising to his left upper chest and shoulder area as a result.”

Officers’ cameras capture incident

Body camera footage provided by Lagomarsino Law, the firm representing Tellez, appears to corroborate Tellez’s account that the officer exited his vehicle with his gun drawn and yelling for Tellez to exit his vehicle. In the video, as Tellez, who had already been restrained, said officers were violating his Fourth Amendment rights, the officer appeared agitated and pushed Tellez’s head down as Tellez tried to stand up straight. At multiple points during his arrest, Tellez tells officers they are hurting him, the video shows.

As another officer who was not involved in the traffic stop approached, “Officer C.” explained his perspective of the incident, as shown in the video.

“It looked like he was trying to escape, but a car pulled in so he got blocked in,” the officer identified as Officer C. said in the video. “He was resisting in the car.”

The footage also shows that Tellez is pinned down on the hood for several minutes while Metro officers also detained another person, who officers said had approached the stop with cameras, without handcuffs.

“One’s complying, one’s not,” Brightmon said in the video. “That’s the difference.”

Court records showed that Tellez was charged with obstruction of justice or providing false information to a peace officer, unlawful method of license plate display and making an unsafe U-turn. While the Clark County district attorney’s office declined to prosecute the license plate charge, Tellez’s attorneys said in the lawsuit that he is seeking a full dismissal.

Lawsuit: ‘Notorious for his encounters with civilians’

The lawsuit alleged this was not an isolated incident for the officer in question or the downtown unit, alleging it was involved in the most non-deadly use-of-force incidents of any area command unit in the past five years.

Metro’s annual use-of-force report corroborates that the downtown unit’s five-year average of 83 non-deadly use of force incidents was the highest among all units.

“Officer C. has become notorious for his encounters with civilians downtown so much so that Officer C. has gone viral on social media, being dubbed as ‘Metro Mullet,’ due to repeated incidents of him being captured on video and posted online using a disproportionate use and show of force on civilians,” the lawsuit stated. “Upon information and belief, Officer C. has multiple incidents in effectuating a disproportionate use and show of force against civilians downtown that have not been properly investigated by LVMPD.”

Contact Devan Patel at [email protected].