Raleigh paid $170K to man wrongly arrested while protesting treatment of Black student
Kevin Hines was picking up his kids from Enloe High School in May 2013 when he ended up wrongly arrested by police and humiliated in front of teachers and students, according to a lawsuit filed in 2016.
In September 2017, the city settled with Hines, paying him $170,000 — one example of accusations of wrongful arrest in settled complaints of police misconduct compiled by The News & Observer.
The arrest occurred on senior prank day after a water-balloon fight unfolded. Hines saw Raleigh Sgt. Rodney Warner put a Black student in a chokehold and push him to the ground, the lawsuit contends.
“He then picked the boy up and, again, used the force of his significant weight to slam the student’s body into the concrete,” the lawsuit alleges.
According to the lawsuit, a teacher suggested Hines take his concerns to the principal and let Hines into the school building. The teacher walked into the office to get the principal but it was Warner who walked into the school’s lobby.
Hines, who was refusing to leave until he spoke to the principal, agreed to walk outside after Warner promised his supervisor would meet them and take Hines’ complaint, the lawsuit states. When Hines walked outside, police arrested him.
“Under Sgt. Warner’s direct supervision, the two uniformed officers threw Mr. Hines against a brick wall, handcuffed him, and arrested him for second degree trespass,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit further contends Warner watched and suggested they use a Taser on Hines if he didn’t cooperate.
Hines, who was twice paraded in front of his children, their friends and teachers with handcuffs on, was held for 10 hours before he was released on a $3,000 secured bond. As a condition of his release he was barred from Enloe, missing an event his daughter participated in.
The charges were dismissed about two weeks after the arrest, but his name had been smeared in national headlines, the lawsuit says. Hines’ children struggled to sleep and suffered from extreme embarrassment and stress in school, according to the lawsuit.
In court documents, city attorneys denied many of the accusations. They contend Warner grabbed the teen’s left arm, put him in an arm bar and “placed” him on the ground, according to court documents. City lawyers also wrote that Hines refused to leave and resisted arrest when officers approached him.
“Warner instructed the other officers to get a Taser in case Plaintiff Kevin Hines continued to resist arrest,” city attorneys wrote in court documents.
After Hines filed a complaint with Raleigh police, the department in September 2013 responded and confirmed his complaint about false arrest and wrote there wasn’t enough evidence to prove discourtesy, the lawsuit states.
Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
