BEAUMONT, Texas — A Beaumont man who claims he was paralyzed from the chest down by a Beaumont Police Department officer has hired a national civil rights attorney.
Ben Crump will now represent Christopher Shaw, 41, in a federal lawsuit against Beaumont Police Officer James Thomas Gillen, the City of Beaumont, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the jail’s medical contractor, Corrhealth LLC.
Shaw was taken into police custody after he was arrested for public intoxication on June 12, 2021. The NAACP Beaumont chapter, Shaw and other civil rights leaders said the incident that left him paralyzed happened as police were transferring him to the Jefferson County Jail.
Officers say that once Shaw was inside the booking area, he became very aggressive, using physical force to push officers, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Shaw “intentionally and knowingly” proceeded to kick an officer in the shin and groin, the affidavit says. He was eventually restrained and charged with assault to a public servant.
The lawsuit says when Shaw was handcuffed and restrained by deputies at the Jefferson County Jail, he was “body slammed” onto the jail’s concrete floor and broke his neck as a result of the attack.
Attorneys say after the body-slamming, jail staff failed to get him the proper medical treatment.
A hospital examination showed that Shaw suffered several spinal fractures that have left him paralyzed from the chest down, the lawsuit says.
“The Beaumont Police and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office are prosecuting the man they paralyzed and they’re hiding the truth from the public,” said Crump in a news release. “If this were a bank robbery, a hit and run or even a convenience store hold up, they would have released this video two years ago. The only difference is that, in this case, the suspect is wearing a badge.”
The lawsuit says medical personnel at the jail left Shaw on the floor, "begging for help" and lying in a pool of urine and feces.
The NAACP Beaumont chapter and the Texas Rainbow PUSH Coalition have since then been pushing for the video of the incident to be made public. They believe seeing the footage is the right of the public.
Crump recently represented Randy Cox, the 36-year-old Black man who was paralyzed while being transported handcuffed and without a seat belt in the back of a police van in New Haven, Connecticut, according to the release.
The City of New Haven settled that lawsuit in early June for $45 million.
Crump also represented the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
