Lawsuit: East Lansing police lied in rape report, illegally arrested man

EAST LANSING — A man who was falsely accused of rape is suing East Lansing and several police officers, saying his Constitutional rights were violated during his arrest and by the police report because of a sergeant's lie.

East Lansing spokesperson Mikell Frey wrote in an email that City Attorney Anthony Chubb said the city has not been served with the lawsuit and does not generally comment on pending litigation.

Najeem Naseer was arrested and spent two weeks in jail after police went to Deerpath Apartments at about 6 a.m. Dec. 12, 2020, to find a woman who called 911 and said she was being assaulted with a knife and did not know where she was. Without an exact location, police went building to building, searching for anything that looked or sounded off, according to the lawsuit.

When dispatchers sent a GPS location of the woman's phone, police went to that building but didn't hear anything on the first floor, according to the lawsuit. On the second floor, they saw an apartment door was open.

Officers went inside the apartment with guns drawn, according to the lawsuit. They heard faint whimpers and saw a light coming from a bedroom in the back of the apartment.

When they went into the bedroom, they saw a partially clothed and hysterical woman lying on the bed next to a fully nude man, who they later identified as Naseer. After handcuffing him, officers found a knife under his body, according to the lawsuit.

Only one officer, Sgt. Jeff Thomas, said he witnessed the two having sex when he entered the room, according to the lawsuit. This was later found to be untrue, according to the lawsuit.

Two days later, ELPD sent out a press release saying officers had "stopped the assault." the news release named Naseer, and stated that he faced charges including first-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, assault with the intent to do great bodily harm and felonious assault. The release included his mugshot.

Sending the release was an "extraordinary move" and was unusual for the department, according to the lawsuit.

Prosecutors asked to dismiss the charges in early February 2021 after watching a video Naseer had recorded on his phone, according to an email from the prosecutor to police that was obtained through a public records request.

Sergeant wrong about seeing pair having sex, lawsuit says

At the request of a City Council member whose name was redacted from a copy of a citizen complaint received from the city, East Lansing police investigated Thomas' assertion that the two were having sex. That investigation found Thomas neglected his duty by not properly documenting his conclusion that he saw penetration.

Thomas said his conclusion was based on inferences from the situation, but maintained his conclusion was "reasonable and truthful," according to a report from the prosecutor's office on whether the incident should be disclosed to defense attorneys in future cases that involve Thomas. The State Journal obtained a copy of the report from Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon.

Thomas entered the room about five seconds before the next officer did, which could explain the difference in reports, according to the report.

Prosecutors ultimately determined Thomas should not be added to their internal list of officers who have known problems with truthfulness because there was "no indication that Sgt. Thomas intentionally lied." This incident was a "credibility and perception" issue, prosecutors said.

More on the internal list: With no oversight of list of problem cops, prosecutors mainly rely on police to self-report

East Lansing Police would not say what discipline, if any, Thomas faced. In July 2021 former Deputy Chief Steve Gonzalez, who is now chief of public safety at Capital Region International Airport, told the State Journal he could not discuss discipline related to the complaint. Gonzalez said, however, that the department also found it had violated its media relations policy by releasing a mug shot prior to a request from a reporter.

The council member's request for an investigation called the press release "highly prejudicial" and said police "outrageously harmed a city resident."

Naseer spent about two weeks in jail until bond was set and posted at $25,000, according to the lawsuit.

"Sgt. Thomas's lies caused this," according to the lawsuit. "If it were not for the footage from Naseer's iPhone, the malicious prosecution might be ongoing today. ... Whatever Sergeant Thomas's actual motives for the false report, they were certainly for purposes of vexation, trouble or malice."

This video on Naseer's had been recording for two and a half hours before police arrived, according to the lawsuit. It is not clear what was on the video.

Whatever motives the ELPD, the city of East Lansing and Thomas had for lying, "bringing Naseer to justice cannot have been among them. This was a targeted racial attack," according to the lawsuit.

Woman asks police not to charge Naseer

After the initial interview, the woman sent police several emails, texts and voicemails saying her report was a mistake and she did not wish to press charges. She said things got "out of control" and they were both far too drunk.

"I never said I wanted charges filed. At the moment I panicked and just wanted everything to stop and go home," the woman wrote in one email to police, which was provided by the prosecutor's office through a public records request. "I wish I would of made different decisions that night or just could of walked out of there, but ... I had no other option than calling for help."

The woman knew Naseer because he worked at a gas station near where she used to live, according to the lawsuit. She was a prostitute and his brother used to pay her for sex.

Naseer had messaged her on Facebook at about 2 a.m. Dec. 12 and said he would pay her to come over for sex. He ordered her an Uber to come over.

They started to have sex but the woman told police it became too rough for her liking and she asked him to stop, according to the lawsuit. Each time she asked him to stop, he did.

Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: East Lansing police sued for lying in report, illegally arresting man