Judge: Des Moines police officer didn't use excessive force in arrest that cracked man's ribs, resulted in lawsuit

A judge has sided with a Des Moines police officer with a history of disciplinary action, dismissing a lawsuit which claimed the officer used excessive force during an arrest.

District Judge John Jarvey on Aug. 13 granted Des Moines police officer Cody Grimes' motion for summary judgement after the officer of 12 years argued that a lawsuit brought against him by Charles Young, a man who received two cracked ribs while Grimes was arresting him in 2016, should be dismissed.

Charles Young, 64, a food industry worker and U.S. Army veteran, brought a federal lawsuit against Grimes in March which claimed 39-year-old Grimes violated Young's constitutional rights by using excessive force while arresting him. The city of Des Moines and officer Sean O'Neill were also named as defendants in the lawsuit.

The suit alleged O'Neill failed to stop Grimes from attacking Young, and accused the city of Des Moines of "negligent or reckless conduct" in hiring and retaining Grimes and failing to properly supervise him following several previous incidents. 

In March 2016, Grimes was called to Young's home after Young requested help evicting two guests from his apartment. When Grimes and O'Neill told Young that they were unable to force the couple to leave and that Young would have to file a civil action against them, Young became angry and yelled at the officers to "get the (expletive) out of my house," court records show.

Young slammed the door as the officers were leaving; Grimes said the door hit him as he left, leaving paint from the door on his pants. 

Grimes then re-entered the apartment and took Young to the ground as he attempted to arrest him, yelling “give me your arm, stop resisting,” multiple times, Judge Jarvey said in the filing. 

Grimes kneed Young three or four times in the chest, then "jabbed" his right side with his fist before placing him in handcuffs, court records show. Grimes cracked two of Young's ribs as a result. 

After the altercation with Grimes, Young was charged with assaulting a police officer. A jury found him not guilty in October 2016. However, District Associate Judge Gregory Brandt found Young guilty of interference with official acts, a simple misdemeanor.

Young during his trial, called Grimes "a time bomb just waiting to explode,"  testifying that the officer pinned him to the ground and ignored his cries that his hands were stuck underneath him by his waistline. 

"My reply was to him, 'Officer, I'm trying to give you my hands if you get up off me,'" Young testified, the Register previously reported.

Meanwhile, Grimes testified that he did not hear Young say such things, and that he could not get Young's hands out from under his stomach, so he ultimately struck him with his knees to force him to comply with orders, the Register reported.

Young said during trial testimony, prior to his arrest, that he was “very upset and maybe a little hyper ... Went overboard maybe," Jarvey wrote in his recent court filing.

Grimes defended his actions during Young's trial, saying that the use of pepper spray would have endangered the other people in the apartment and that his Taser was not an option because he was essentially crouched over Young, according to previous Register reporting.

"But for Young’s decision to slam the door, Officer Grimes would have left the premises," Jarvey wrote in the Aug. 13 filing in defense of why Young's constitutional rights violation claim failed. "Once Young slammed the door on Officer Grimes, the officers had probable cause to effectuate an arrest."

Meanwhile the city, Jarvey wrote, did what it was supposed to do. 

He waved off Young's claim that Grimes displayed a "widespread, persistent pattern of unconstitutional misconduct," according to the recent filing.

Grimes received six violations over the course of nine years with the department, court records show. Two involved excessive force claims. 

"The DMPD’s responsiveness to each violation is the antithesis of deliberate indifference or tacit approval," Jarvey wrote, adding that Grimes did not escape punishment from the department.

Carol Moser, Deputy City Attorney for the City of Des Moines, said Thursday that she was pleased Grimes' motion was granted. Attorneys for Young could not immediately be reached Thursday.

Grimes, who has been an officer with the Des Moines Police Department since 2007, has a checkered past. 

He was fired from the department in 2014 after pleading guilty to a criminal mischief charge related to a domestic dispute with a girlfriend. But the Des Moines Civil Service Commission ruled the punishment was too harsh and reinstated him in 2015.

"Despite their knowledge of Grimes' temper and violent tendencies, the city did not assign Grimes to desk duty or attempt to work out a settlement with Grimes but instead allowed the officer to work with the traffic unit of the department where he would be in contact with citizens and would occasionally respond to emergency calls," the March suit by Young stated.

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Grimes was one of the first officers to arrive at the scene of a reported shooting at the KCCI-TV news station in 2010, which turned out to be a man throwing rocks at windows of the building. Grimes mistakenly fired his weapon at a KCCI-TV photojournalist, saying he saw the figure of a man outside the building. In 2010, a firearms review committee unanimously found his action was not unjustified, court records show.

In 2011, he was accused of excessive force while he worked security for a wedding reception where he allegedly punched the groom five times before a guest stopped him. 

The incident resulted in a $75,000 settlement from the city. An internal investigation by the department chose not to discipline Grimes after deciding "there was not sufficient evidence to prove or disprove excessive force."

Anna Spoerre covers crime and courts for the Des Moines Register. She can be contacted at aspoerre@dmreg.com, 515-284-8387 or on Twitter at @annaspoerre.

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