Lawsuit filed against several Put-in-Bay officers for alleged excessive force

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Put-in-Bay is normally a place where people go to relax and unwind.

But a lawsuit just filed says it was anything but that for six tourists who were there over the summer.

They claim they were mistreated by some Put-in-Bay police officers.

On Monday, attorney Ven Johnson spoke with 19 news about what he says led up to the lawsuit.

One of the incidents, which we reported extensively, saw nine people get arrested after police said they were driving recklessly on a golf cart.

Body camera video shows how things quickly escalated.

All charges in the case, which included assault and rioting, were eventually dropped.

“And the officer claimed that they ran a stop sign and they had too many people on it. That was the serious offense for which people get ultimately slammed to the ground, handcuffed,” said Johnson.

In the aftermath of the arrests, two officers resigned and the police chief was also placed on leave.

The Put-in-Bay police said they had no comment at this time.

We also reached out to the mayor and solicitor of Put-in-Bay and have not heard back since.

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