Man sues West Palm Beach police and union over violent 2019 arrest
A Palm Beach County man filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the cop who was once charged with kneeling on his head and beating him repeatedly during his 2019 arrest. A second suit was filed in state court against the police union that backed the cop by calling the alleged beating victim a “violent felon.”
John Monroque was 62 when West Palm Beach Police Officer Nicholas Lordi was called to the Food Plus Food Stores at 5501 Broadway to investigate a trespassing complaint in November 2019.
“There is nothing in that call that talks about anyone who is dangerous, anyone who is violent,” said Fan Li, a partner at the Kelley/Uustal Law Firm in Fort Lauderdale, which is representing Monroque, of Palm Beach Gardens.
Video footage shows Monroque had his back turned to Lordi when the officer grabbed him and had him lean over the hood of a car to arrest him. Lordi is later seen striking Monroque repeatedly in the head, stopping only when a bystander blocked him mid-swing. Finally, he is seen kneeling on Monroque’s head, a restraining move that preceded the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis by more than six months.
Although Lordi was arrested in February 2022, the State Attorney’s Office dismissed formal charges against him, and he remains a West Palm Beach Police Department employee.
Still, Monroque’s lawyers say the police union defamed him by calling him a violent felon when he has no record of violence and has never been charged or convicted of a felony. When Lordi was arresting Monroque, two of the three charges he faced were felonies. But those charges were never pursued, and the union’s statement came after it was clear Monroque would not face any charges.
Part of the union’s defense of Lordi focused on portions of surveillance video they say showed Monroque fighting back during his arrest. But even that would not justify calling him a violent felon, Monroque’s lawyers said.
Efforts to obtain a comment from the union, Lordi and the West Palm Beach Police Department Tuesday were unsuccessful.
No dates have been set in either the federal or state cases.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.
