Lawsuit Filed in St. Patrick's Day Arrest Posted on YouTube

ROYAL OAK, MI – A Farmington Hills man claims in a lawsuit filed Monday that Royal Oak police used excessive force when they arrested him outside a downtown bar on St. Patrick’s Day.

The arrest, which was recorded on a cellphone and posted on YouTube, shows at least four police officers wrestling with 25-year-old Travis Hermiz before eventually subduing him with a stun gun, and two others controlling a gathering crowd outside BlackFinn Ameripub on Main Street, where police had been called to respond to a bar fight.

Stay Connected

• Get the Royal Oak Patch daily newsletter and news alerts
• Like Royal Oak Patch on Facebook

Both Royal Oak Police Chief O’Donohue and Mayor Jim Ellison told The Daily Tribune they couldn’t comment on pending lawsuits.

O’Donohue has previously said that a first review of the March 17 video may depict “a sloppy arrest,” but not necessarily “any malicious intent by the officers.”

See Also

• Arrest Video Sparks Controversy in Royal Oak

However, Hermiz claims in his lawsuit filed in Oakland County Circuit Court that he didn’t resist officers, that he didn’t start the fight that prompted the police call, and that he was only defending himself after he was head-butted.

Hermiz is asking for unspecified damages for attorney fees, medical costs, pain and suffering and punitive damages.

According to the lawsuit, Hermiz sought medical treatment at Beaumont Hospital – Royal Oak after his release from custody the day of the arrest, and then again the next day at Henry Ford Hospital in West Bloomfield, where he had a CT scan to determine if he sustained head injuries.

Hermiz was charged with misdemeanor counts of marijuana possession, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. His pretrial hearing before Royal Oak 44th District Judge Jamie Wittenberg is at 9 a.m. on April 20, The Daily Tribune said.