$27 MILLION Lawsuit - Giant Cop Slams Handcuffed Man On Head

Lawsuit seeks $27M from upstate town, officer over alleged police brutality

A New Jersey man is suing the town of Lloyd and one of its police officers after the officer slammed him to the ground during a traffic stop last year.

Mohammed Nashat Khaled alleges it rendered him unconscious for days and left him with serious injuries that still negatively affect his life.

The incident is detailed in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Tuesday in the Northern District of New York, and partially corroborated by footage from a body-worn camera provided to the Times Union by the man’s lawyer. Khaled alleges that the officer, Erich Funccius, used “unnecessary and excessive force” and committed assault and battery during the encounter, acting with “a knowing, willful, wanton, grossly reckless, unlawful, unreasonable, unconscionable, and flagrant disregard” for Khaled’s rights under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

Khaled is seeking a jury trial and $27 million in damages under three federal and state statutory claims.

The incident occurred around 1 a.m. on Dec. 11. Khaled had pulled over to the side of Route 9W “to rest because he was exhausted,” according to the complaint.

A 911 call brought state troopers and Lloyd police officers to the scene. The troopers gave Khaled a field sobriety test, which he failed, and a Breathalyzer, which he was seemingly unable to complete, according to the video, which is from an unidentified officer’s body-worn camera.

Police then arrested Khaled on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Khaled appeared to have difficulty following the troopers’ instructions during the sobriety tests, but he complied with orders when he was handcuffed and marched back to a police vehicle, according to the footage. 

Before getting into the car, one of the state troopers tells Khaled four times to “spread his feet.” According to the complaint, Khaled “did not clearly understand the order.” Eventually, he appears to comply, but continues to turn around to speak to the officers — particularly Funccius, who can be seen in the video grabbing the back of his coat.

“Why you are doing that?” Khaled asks.

“You push back at me again, I will throw you on the ground,” Funccius says.

The officers order Khaled to “relax” and “stop.” The handcuffed Khaled replies “no” and begins to say something else when Funccius grabs him by the neck and right arm and brings him down forcefully to the pavement.

The force of the action appears to render Khaled unconscious; over the video’s remaining 13-plus minutes, he makes no movements and says nothing when the camera settles on him. The state troopers radio for EMS once they realize Khaled’s condition. They and Funccius roll him onto his left side and go quiet as they assess the situation.

The unidentified officer wearing the body camera then receives a phone call, which he later says is from a Lloyd police sergeant. (Later in the video, the contact ID “Sgt Tucker” can be seen on the officer’s phone screen when the sergeant calls back.)

“He started becoming combative,” the officer says on the phone. “Funccius put him to the ground. He’s out cold.”

That officer then tells another officer recently arrived at the scene that Khaled “is bleeding.” Then he appears to mute his body camera.

There is no audio for the video’s final 10 minutes, which show Lloyd police officers and state troopers standing around Khaled and then helping load him into an ambulance when it arrives.

Khaled was taken to Vassar Brothers Medical Center just across the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie and did not regain consciousness for a “few days,” he claims in his complaint. He alleges he suffered a fractured elbow and unspecified injuries to his head, shoulder, knees and fingers, as well as “mental anguish” and “disorientat (ion).”

According to his lawyer, Ryanne Konan, Khaled lost his job as a store clerk because of his injuries and had to take out a lien to pay his medical bills.

Khaled and his attorney filed a notice of claim on March 6. Two months later, a 50-H hearing was held, a pre-lawsuit procedure required by state General Municipal Law before a claimant can sue a municipality for personal damages. The hearing allows the municipality to question the claimant under oath about the incident, injuries and damages to aid in the investigation and potential settlement of the claim.

During the 50-H hearing, “We could not reach a settlement because I do not think the town had the resources,” Konan told the Times Union.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday brings three causes: excessive use of force under a section of U.S. code that gives individuals the right to sue government employees and others acting “under color of state law” for civil rights violations; state-level assault and battery charges against Officer Funccius; and a cause against the town of Lloyd because Funccius committed the alleged assault and battery while on duty.

Neither Funccius nor Lloyd Police Chief James Janso responded to detailed questions and requests for comment.

Funccius, 37, was hired by the Lloyd Police Department last August, according to a social media announcement by the department. He previously served as a Rosendale police officer and as a law enforcement officer with the U.S. Coast Guard. In 2021, he was awarded a Carnegie Medal for Acts of Extraordinary Heroism for pulling three men from a burning car after they crashed into a utility pole outside his home in Kingston.