An Ad Executive's Lawsuit Charges Detroit Cops Beat Him

Keenan Ellsberry, an ad executive from West Bloomfield, says Detroit police officers stopped him in Rosedale Park, and, believing he was a drug dealer, beat him.

According to David Ashenfelter of the Free Press, Ellsberry, who is black, said two white officers savagely attacked him in front of his ex-wife and two of his children and then falsely accused him of assaulting the officers and trying to grab one of their guns.

The criminal charges were dropped after Officer Steve Posey, who also is black, told internal affairs investigators that the other officers used excessive force.

Ellsberry says he suffered long-term injuries and is suing the officers and the city. His ex-wife, Chanel Smith, a vice president of a suburban bank branch, filed a separate suit on behalf of their children, saying they are getting therapy for trauma.