Danville police face federal, state lawsuits over controversial arrest
DANVILLE, Ky. (FOX 56) — The Danville Police Department has been named in lawsuits at the federal and state level, alongside several of its officers, regarding the October arrest of a man with dementia.
Body camera video obtained by FOX 56 shows 66-year-old John Hardwick, a man with dementia, pleading for help after a grocery store trip with his wife last October ended with him handcuffed and taken to jail on public intoxication and shoplifting charges.
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'You see T.J. Godbey pulled his cuffs out; rush him. One officer does what they call a leg whip to bring him down; the other officer tries to put him in a chokehold, which every law enforcement officer knows, and every police department in this country prohibits chokeholds after the tragedy that happened with George Floyd,' said Attorney Ephraim Helton.
Hardwick was taken to an area hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the arrest. There, body camera video shows officers exchanging text messages calling the 'severe dementia claim' a 'stretch.'
Helton notified FOX 56 on Tuesday that now the police department, along with the arresting officers, has been named in lawsuits at the state and federal levels.
'In the months that have followed, Mr. Hardwick no longer leaves his residence to go toWalmart with his wife. His quality of life was already difficult due to his dementia but thetrauma inflicted by the Defendants on October 15, 2024, has since completely altered anddevastated his life,' court documents read.
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The lawsuits also attest that Hardwick has experienced a 'drastic decline' with his dementia since the incident.
In the federal lawsuit, Helton claims that the officers violated Hardwick's Fourth Amendment rights, the department and city failed to train and supervise its officers properly, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, and violated the Rehabilitation Act.
In a Boyle County Circuit Court filing, Helton cites:
Battery
False imprisonment, false arrest
Malicious Prosecution
False imprisonment, false arrest against Walmart Asset Protections
Negligent hiring, training, and supervision
Defamation
Helton demanded the case to go before a state and federal jury.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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