Nine Phoenix police officers face a lawsuit for allegedly beating a man so severely that he required hospitalization.
It all started with what was supposed to be a welfare check.
Phoenix police officers were dispatched to Stephan Shere’s apartment on Oct. 4, 2022, after his sister called 911 and reported being worried that Shere was suicidal.
What happened next resulted in Shere being hospitalized, after which police charged him with seven counts of aggravated assault before jailing him for two days.
The welfare check gone very wrong is detailed in a lawsuit filed Oct. 3 in Maricopa County Superior Court. It accused nine officers, police Chief Michael Sullivan and the city of excessive force that violated Shere’s constitutional rights, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, failing to intervene and negligent hiring.