Man Who Sued Numerous Parties in Eau Claire Wins Lawsuit Against One Officer

Thursday, May 2nd, 2024 -- 12:00 PM

(Daniel Gomez, WEAU) A man who sued numerous parties in Eau Claire has won a lawsuit against an officer.

According to Daniel Gomez with WEAU, federal court documents show a jury’s special verdicts have found Officer Sam Sperry responsible for 4th amendment seizure and 4th amendment prosecution.

This all stemmed from a traffic stop the officer conducted on Sidney Coleman in Eau Claire. Coleman had been staying at the Regency Inn & Suites at the time of the incident on October 7, 2019. Police said Coleman had drugs in the car, and drugs in his room at the Regency where kids were present.

“I am extremely disheartened by the jury’s verdict and the damages awarded in this matter. The facts of this case demonstrate the actions of our officers were appropriate and not malicious,” said Chief Matt Rokus in a Facebook post.

Coleman accused the police department of racial profiling. “The only thing that the officer saw me do is come out of my hotel room. By me coming out of my hotel room, he labeled me being a drug dealer from Chicago,” said Coleman. “Which I was not. It made me feel like I was being profiled. When is the racism going to stop?”

“It’s a baffling decision. Our police officer observed a couple of different traffic violations. Initiated a traffic stop,” said Doug Hoffer, the deputy city’s attorney. “Very difficult to understand how the jury reached the decision that they did. It was a valid stop, a valid search of the vehicle, a search of the hotel based on a search warrant approved by a circuit court judge.”

The lawsuits against the Eau Claire Police Department, City of Eau Claire, State of Wisconsin, among others, were dismissed. The ECPD posted a video of the traffic stop in question on its YouTube channel.

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