Man files suit against Troy police, City of Troy
Published 11:44 am Tuesday, October 21, 2008
A Troy man has filed a lawsuit against a Troy Police officer, the police department and the City of Troy.
Martin Scott Flowers is suing Capt. Vance Ventress, with the Troy Police, and the other two parties on alleged counts of false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. He is seeking $100,000 for each claim.
The suit, filed in September, stems from Flowers’ 2005 arrest on charges of trespassing on Ventress’ property.
A jury subsequently found Flowers not guilty of the charge.
“What this all stemmed from is a situation that arose in Mr. Flowers’ neighborhood, where kids were constantly riding by his house in golf carts and ATVs,” said Rick Holligsworth, Sr., Flowers’s attorney. “On a couple of different occasion they actually egged his vehicle, and on each of these occasions he reported to the police.”
Hollingsworth said one day Flowers waited to see who the teens were, and he followed them to Ventress’s house, where Flowers was arrested for alleged trespassing.
“The false arrest claim came because Mr. Ventress didn’t ask any questions,” Hollingsworth said. “He arrested Mr. Flowers for no apparent reason other than it made him mad Mr. Flowers was complaining on his daughter’s friends.”
Troy Mayor Jimmy Lunsford said the city will fight the case in court.
“We will rigorously defend it as we do all frivolous lawsuits,” Lunsford said.
Police Chief Anthony Everage said he could not comment on the case.
In a related case, Flowers was charged with reckless endangerment by the Troy Police, accused of shining a flashlight into a vehicle where a 15-year-old boy, who allegedly vandalized Flowers’s yard, was the passenger. The case is ongoing.