YOUNGSVILLE, La. (KLFY) — The Youngsville City Council will address a lawsuit against the city for police brutality at tonight’s regular meeting.

Samuel Leon of Mabank, Texas is suing the city, along with former police chief Rickey Boudreaux and Officer Eric Segura, alleging Segura beat Leon with “reckless and callous indifference” during an encounter in Youngsville on Aug. 16, 2022.

The city’s insurance carrier, Amguard Insurance Company, was originally listed as a defendant but has been dropped from the lawsuit.

The suit alleges that Segura detained Leon, handcuffed him and punched him in the face 17 times “without probable cause of any criminal wrongdoing.” As a result, Leon “sustained significant injuries, including, but not limited to continued severe headaches, concussion, hearing loss, affected vision.”

The suit also claims that Segura “has been accused of excessive force through his position in several different law enforcement agencies.”

According to the suit, Deputy Police Chief Gabe Thompson filed a formal complaint against Segura and Officer Justin Ortis for the use of excessive force after his review of footage from their body cameras.

Boudreaux ordered an Internal Affairs investigation be conducted, during which the suit alleges Segura lied to investigators about the number of times he hit Leon, as well as claiming the Leon was being “very aggressive” during the encounter.

In the suit, Leon is seeking an unspecified amount of both compensatory and punitive damages from the city and Boudreaux, claiming “the City of Youngsville and/or the Youngsville Police Department failed to properly train Segura on, among other things, use of force. In particular, they failed to train offers on the constitutional limitations regarding the use of force on subdued individuals.”

Read the suit in its entirety here:

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