A Kansas City police officer with a history of violent encounters has been accused of using excessive force in detaining a woman at the Platte County Walmart in 2022.
In the lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Platte County Circuit Court, plaintiff Bermeeka Mitchell of Lansing, Kan. accuses officer Blayne Newton of three counts and seeks a jury trial and $25,000 in damages. Three counts are listed in the suit, including assault, battery and false imprisonment. The case is set for a May 10 docket call.
According to court documents, Newton was working an off-duty assignment Sept. 11, 2022 at the Platte County Walmart. In the parking lot, Mitchell noticed an arrest under way by Kansas City Police Department officers and started to live stream the arrest on Facebook. She followed them into the building and was approached by an individual and told she could not film on Walmart property. Mitchell said the person was in plain clothes and never identified himself as an employee of the store. She continued to film and the employee asked her to stop and leave. She refused. This employee then called for Newton, who was in uniform.
Mitchell says she attempted to comply with the officer, but Newton grabbed and twisted both her arms, placed the heel of his boot on top of her foot and ground it as he forced her arms behind her back. She was handcuffed tightly and her shoulder was pinched while the officer reportedly yelled “stop resisting arrest.”
Now injured, Mitchell said she was taken to a private room and told she would not be charged with trespassing and resisting arrest if she left the property and agreed to “not make a scene.”
After the incident, Mitchell filed a complaint with the Community Complaints Office of the Kansas City Police Department and the situation was investigated by internal affairs. The plaintiff’s claim of excessive force was sustained and he was allegedly disciplined by KCPD.
Newton has been at the center of several investigations according to multiple reports. In 2019, Newton was one of three officers accused of beating and tasing a teenager. In 2020, Newton was involved in the death of Donnie Sanders, who police said ran from a traffic stop. During the pursuit, police say Sanders raised his hand and Newton fired, stating he believed Sanders had a weapon. Sanders was unarmed.
Later that year, Newton was allegedly involved in an incident involving Deja Stallings, who was nine months pregnant when she was forced to the ground by police in a viral video.
In June 2023, Newton was again under investigation, this time in the deaths of Marcell Nelson and Kristen Fairchild near 31st Street and Van Brunt in Kansas City.