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Suspect alleges he was handcuffed so tightly his hand had to be amputated

An Alabama man who had to have his hand surgically removed last year after being roughed up and restrained in handcuffs that were too tight is now suing the officer involved in the incident in a federal civil rights case https://www.al.com/news/2024/02/alabama-man-lost-hand-after-being-handcuffed-too-tightly-says-suit-case-now-headed-to-court.html Giovanni Loyola, 26, was arrested on February 16, 2020, after a fight apparently broke out and gunfire was reported to police that night at a Birmingham trailer park, the lawsuit and police report state. The legal complaint alleges that while Loyola was watching TV that night, he answered the door to his home when the Jefferson County sheriffâs deputies arrived. The complaint alleges that one officer then "slammed [Loyola] against a car, threw him to the ground and punched him in the face with his fist." The police report, which conflicts with the account in the complaint, states that Loyola was inebriated and became combative after refusing to allow officers inside, according to The Washington Post. That night, Loyola was handcuffed "behind his back extremely tightly" on the ground outside for about 45 minutes, according to his lawyer, Jon C. Goldfarb. His mother was outside the home as police conducted a âsafety checkâ inside. An officer placed a knee on Loyolaâs back for a period of time, Goldfarb told Oxygen.com in an interview; he was later arrested on disorderly conduct and resisting arrest charges. Goldfarb said that at least one of Loyolaâs brothers was there but that the family did not hear any gunfire that night. Loyola says that when he repeatedly complained of a loss of feeling in his hand from the cuffs, the officer who restrained him â listed as âGodberâ in the complaint â refused to loosen them. Christopher Godber is listed as a deputy with the Jefferson County sheriffâs office. As he lay on the ground, complaining about the tight handcuffs, Godber allegedly told Loyola that he âdoesnât know how to be fucking quiet,â the complaint states. The handcuffs were left on for âhours,â according to the lawsuit, before they were removed at a Birmingham jail. But Loyola remained detained until February 28, 2020, on outstanding traffic warrants and was shuffled around multiple facilities, Goldfarb said, as his left hand got worse. He was eventually rushed to the hospital with grey fingertips and was told heâd need surgery. That resulted in the removal of two of his fingertips in early March of 2020. Ultimately, surgeons had to amputate his entire left hand.

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An amputee is suing an Alabama sheriff’s department, claiming he only lost his left hand from being kept in too-tight handcuffs for hours during an arrest.

Giovanni Loyola, 28, claims in a federal civil rights complaint that his constitutional rights against excessive force and unlawful arrest were violated after his 2020 arrest for disorderly conduct, AL.com reported.

He alleges that he asked for help loosening the cuffs after being restrained for several hours but that deputies at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department ignored him, according to the outlet.

The circulation in his wrist was blocked and led to the hand needing to be surgically removed, claims Loyola, of Pinson, just outside Birmingham.

“It’s horrible. I don’t wish that pain on nobody,” Loyola told the outlet in an earlier interview.

“It’s just really unexpected. I have no words for it.”

He filed the complaint in the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. The trial is scheduled to begin April 15.

Loyola was arrested on Feb. 16, 2020, when he was at his mother’s trailer watching TV, AL.com reported, citing the complaint in which officers say he eventually fought with them.

Deputy Christopher Godber said in his report that he and two other deputies went to the trailer park after receiving multiple calls about gunshots and two men fighting.

Loyola claims he was not fighting anyone and that his brothers may have just been arguing outside, according to the outlet.

He accused the deputies of being aggressive when he answered the door.

Loyola claims he was not fighting anyone and that his brothers may have just been arguing outside, according to the outlet.

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“Deputy Godber, without answering and without asking permission to enter the home, reached inside the doorway, grabbed Plaintiff by the wrist, and jerked him outside the home and down the steps,” the complaint reportedly states.

Loyola, who is 5-foot-5 and weighed 132 pounds at the time, claims he was slammed into a car, thrown on the ground, and punched in the face.

Godber handcuffed him tightly as he lay on the ground and said he was doing nothing wrong, according to the complaint.

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