Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Kingston Police

KINGSTON – The Kingston man who was beaten and tased by two Kingston City Police officers has filed a lawsuit in Albany federal court alleging his constitutional rights were violated during a September 4, 2015 incident.

The suit filed by Fabian Marshall, who was 25 at the time, maintains he suffered “conscious physical pain and suffering and physical injuries, including to his right shoulder, as well as emotional distress and lost wages.”

The federal complaint names Kingston Police Officers Jeremy Arciello and Michael Mills, charging they used excessive force on Marshall.

The officers were apparently looking for a suspect who had allegedly pushed an elderly bicycle rider off his bike near Broadway in Kingston. The alleged assailant was described in a police emergency call as a short, bald, middle-aged, light-skinned African-American man.”

Marshall, who was waiting on Broadway at mid-morning to meet his aunt who was going to take him to work, is described as a tall, thin, dark-skinned African-American man with shoulder-length hair.

The lawsuit alleges that Officer Arciello approached Marshall and asked him, “What happened,” said he was “involved” and told him to “get on the sidewalk.”

Marshall hesitated and turned on the video recorder on the cell phone he was holding, causing Arciello to become “demonstrably angry” and push Marshall against his patrol car while placing him in a neck lock.

At that point, the lawsuit maintains, Officer Mills ran to the scene and began to stun-tase Marshall while yelling at him to “stop fighting” even though he was not fighting, the suit said.
While Marshall was held on the ground by Arciello, Mills tased him more than 15 times, the lawsuit charged.

Arciello then arrested and charged Marshall with obstructing justice and resisting arrest. He was later convicted on the obstruction charge, but acquitted of resisting arrest.

The federal suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages against the two officers “for their egregious violations of plaintiff’s rights.”

What Arciello and Mills did “does a disservice to police officers everywhere, the majority of whom would never engage in this kind of misconduct,” said Marshall’s attorney, Christopher Watkins. “Of course, all lives matter, but when people of color are treated like this by police officers who are supposed to protect us, it shows why we need to be constantly reminded that black lives matter.”