Videographer Sues Cincinnati After He Was Arrested for Filming Crime Scene
A videographer is suing the city of Cincinnati after he was arrested for refusing to stop filming the scene of a car crash.
Calvin Andrus, a journalist and videographer for almost three decades, filed the lawsuit against Cincinnati and the police officer involved late last year.
The lawsuit revolves around an incident on November 19, 2023. Andrus says he heard police radio traffic about a severe car crash on Spring Grove Avenue in Cincinnati. The videographer arrived and began recording the police response with his video camera.
Andrus says he was standing behind police crime scene tape and recording footage of the aftermath of the fatal car crash when an officer told him to leave. Andrus says he told the officer he was a media representative and tried to hand him a card listing the laws that allow recording crime scenes.
In the lawsuit, Andrus alleges that that the officer arrested him, put him in handcuffs, and into the back of a squad car. The videographer says he was left in the cruiser for more than 30 minutes, where he had a panic attack and chest pains. He was then taken to a hospital where he stayed overnight.
Police later charged Andrus with obstructing official business, but prosecutors dismissed the charge in June, reports AP News.
Andrus is now suing the city for damages for emotional distress, pain and suffering, medical expenses, and punitive damages. He accuses the city and the officer of false arrest and malicious prosecution.
“This incident turned very ugly for Calvin. He was cuffed and thrown into the back of a police cruiser. He stayed there for more than an hour and a half,” attorney Steve Goodin, who represented Andrus in his criminal case, tells WCPO-TV Cincinnati. “That’s a traumatic experience for anybody.”
In his lawsuit, Andrus also wants an injunction to stop police from wrongfully arresting journalists and restricting public access to newsworthy events.
“We think there is a larger principle here,” Goodin adds. “The idea that there’s going to be this pushback at crime scenes on public streets… this really is going to have a chilling effect and discourage people from covering these kinds of stories.”
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
