Derek Chauvin, left, is accused in a lawsuit of pressing his knee into the neck of Patty Day, right. (Mug shot from the Minnesota Department of Corrections; Day’s photo from her lawyers)
Ex-cop Derek Chauvin is accused of using his “signature pose,” pressing his knee into the neck of a subdued woman just like he did four months later when he killed George Floyd in 2020, a lawsuit filed by the woman this week alleges.
Patricia Day filed her excessive force lawsuit in a federal court in Minnesota that stemmed from her drunk driving arrest on Jan. 17, 2020. It seeks over $9 million. It names Chauvin, his former officer partner, and the city of Minneapolis as defendants.
“Chauvin is the most infamous police officer in Minnesota (if not United States) history,” the complaint said. “This exacerbates Patty’s emotional suffering and increases the frequency of her flashbacks, as Chauvin’s name is repeatedly in the news.”
Her ordeal started when her minivan got stuck in the snow, and Chauvin and his former partner were called to the scene. The officers violently jerked Day from her vehicle and threw her to the ground, even though she was not a threat, her lawyer, civil rights attorney Katie Bennett, said in a news release.
“Chauvin then assumed his signature pose — pressing his knee into Ms. Day’s back while she was handcuffed,” Bennett said.
The lawsuit said “such misconduct was par for the course” for Chauvin, “a long-troubled officer with a documented pattern of misconduct, to which MPD and city leaders willfully turned a blind eye.”
Day’s physical injuries included a fractured tooth and injuries to her arm, shoulder and ankle. She has increased anxiety and flashbacks and was diagnosed with major depression disorder. Her psychological issues became so significant she was forced to take a leave from work, court documents said.
“Seeing or hearing police cars is triggering,” the lawsuit said. “While she had previously attended counseling sessions related to her divorce, the events of January 17, 2020, exacerbated and heightened her psychological issues.”
In a statement, Day said her experience with Chauvin is not unique.
“George Floyd died at the hands of this individual, and had the city intervened on his behavior after my interaction, he could still be alive today,” she said. “It was a traumatic part of my life that I hope no one else will have to endure.”
The lawsuit alleges that the officers downplayed the force used on Day in their reports, and neither officer was disciplined.
Representatives for the city and an attorney for Chauvin did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit, The Associated Press reported.
Day’s drunk driving charges were ultimately dropped, with Assistant Minneapolis City Attorney Annalise Backstrom telling the court: “I just want to make clear that my office and myself in particular don’t condone the way that the interaction went down in this particular case,” the lawsuit said.
Following an evidentiary hearing in 2021, a judge granted Day’s motion to suppress evidence. The judge concluded she had been arrested when the officers yanked her from the minivan but lacked probable cause to charge her with driving while intoxicated, court documents said. After her motion to suppress was granted, the City Attorney’s Office dismissed the pending charges for lack of evidence, the lawsuit said.
As Law&Crime reported, Chauvin was convicted of murder in Floyd’s death in April 2021 and federal civil rights violations in May 2022, leading to two decades of incarceration.
The city of Minneapolis agreed to settle the long-standing lawsuits of two people, including a 14-year-old, who were brutalized by Chauvin in 2023.
While in prison this past November, Chauvin survived being stabbed 22 times the day after Thanksgiving, allegedly by a fellow inmate who was once an FBI informant. The suspect allegedly explained that the Black Friday stabbing was a symbolic choice.
Matt Naham, Marisa Sarnoff and Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
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