After weeks of refusing to make any statement to the public or answer questions asked by the media, Indiana University now says that a lawsuit filed in federal court against two IUPD officers in June is the reason for former IUPD Chief Jill Lees’ resignation.
A now-settled federal lawsuit filed by an IU graduate student on June of this year, says that two IUPD officers violated his fourth and fourteenth amendment rights by making an unlawful arrest and using unnecessary force during an dispute over a parking payment in Sept. 2022.
The lawsuit lists then-graduate student Moses Baryoh Jr, who was studying Public Health in Administration and Behavior, and worked as a graduate assistant for Sexual Violence Prevention and Victim Advocacy at Defendant IU’s Health Center, as the plaintiff.
The defendants are listed as two IUPD officers: Officer Austin Magness and Officer Charlotte Watts.
According to court documents, Baryoh Jr. was finishing up his workout at the Student Recreational Sports Center (SRSC) on Sept. 7, 2022.
As Baryoh Jr. was leaving the parking lot, he went to pay the attendant. Court documents say that the only way he was able to be charged for the parking fee was $3 by card, or to be charged an additional $10.50 to have it charged to the bursar bill.
The lawsuit says that Baryoh Jr. did not want to pay the extra fee and attempted to pay in cash with a $5 bill.
Court documents say that the attendant told Baryoh Jr. that he could have someone bring him a card to pay, and raised the gate to let him pull off to the side while waiting for someone to bring a card to him.
However, the lawsuit says that Baryoh Jr. thought this meant the amount was being charged to his bursar bill, and proceeded to head home to his apartment.
The attendant called IUPD. Officers Magness and Watts responded to the SRSC parking lot, and gathered information on the incident, later tracking Baryoh Jr. to his apartment.
Bodycam footage showing the moment IUPD officers meet with Baryoh Jr. and the subsequent arrest that Baroyh Jr. claims was unlawful.
According to the lawsuit and publicly-released body cam footage, Officer Magness asked Baryoh Jr. to cooperate with the officers.
The lawsuit claims that Baryoh Jr. thought the officer was becoming “…more and more angry, so Plaintiff asked, ‘You good?’”
Officer Magness then walked over and told Baryoh Jr. to put his hands behind his back, handcuffing him and pushing him onto the hood of the car.
Baryoh Jr. repeatedly asked why he was being detained, while the officers told him he would go to jail if he resisted. The lawsuit states Officer Magness twisted Baryoh Jr.’s arm, knocked him off balance, and then put him in their patrol car.
Baryoh Jr. was booked into jail and charged criminally, but with nothing relating to the SRSC parking lot incident. IU says those charges were later dropped.
Following the incident, IU says that now-former Chief of Police Jill Lees conducted an internal review of the incident.
Lees ruled that the officers had no wrongdoing, however the university, only after the federal lawsuit was filed, ruled that the review by Lees did not follow university protocol, and that the officers in question did indeed violate IUPD policies.
In an official statement published on Sept. 13, the university says that the administration was made aware of the federal lawsuit when it was filed in June.
That sparked an internal investigation into the conduct of former IU Chief of Police Jill Lees. IU determined that Lees “did not follow mandatory review protocols during the initial 2022 review.”
IU has made the body cam footage of the Sept. 2022 incident available in its entirety. You can watch the unedited footage here.
IU also says that the university is taking several actions as a result of the incident cited in the lawsuit, including:
“We are deeply saddened by the behavior and actions that took place and offer our sincere apology to the individual and to our community,” the university says in the statement. “Indiana University holds our staff, faculty, and leadership to the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity, including IUPD.”
Current IUPD Deputy Superintendent Brad Seifers will serve as interim chief for the Bloomington Department.
Both officers listed as defendants in the lawsuit are still on the IUPD directory.
IU NewsNet has requested records from the university, including documents related to former-chief Lees’ and the two officers disciplinary records, however no documents have been sent by the university.
