Cops Who Arrested IHOP Customer Must Face Excessive Force Claim

Marietta, Ga., police officers aren’t entitled to qualified immunity from the excessive force claim filed against them by a customer they arrested at an IHOP, the Eleventh Circuit said, reversing the lower court’s ruling.

Renardo Lewis and IHOP employees got into an argument, and IHOP staff called the police after Lewis allegedly threatened them with a weapon. Officials charged Lewis with more than two dozen criminal counts and held him in jail for 31 days. A grand jury indicted Lewis, but the government ultimately refused to prosecute him. Lewis and his wife then brought 15 federal and state claims against ...