Man says Alabama police tased him at his housewarming for no reason
theGRIO REPORT - An Alabama man says he was celebrating his purchase of a new home with friends when Madison County deputies and sheriff arrived and used a taser on him without reason.
An Alabama man says he was celebrating his purchase of a new home with friends when Madison County deputies and sheriff arrived and used a taser on him without reason.
According to AL.com, Dominique Kenebrew, an electrical engineer, had just bought a new home in Huntsville and was celebrating with a few friends on May 18, 2013Â when sheriff’s deputies arrived and tried to enter without saying why they were there.
When Kenebrew would not allow them inside, he was tased in the back on his front porch and arrested on charges of obstructing justice.
The 28-year-old has since sued the two deputies involved, Daniel Dejong and Ryan Countess, as well as Sheriff Blake Dorning for illegal search, illegal seizure and excessive force, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit and the police report have similar basic facts, however they provide different details related to the altercation.
The suit and police report both state, at about 11 p.m., Deputy Daniel Dejong knocked on the door. Kenebrew stepped outside and closed the door behind him, asking officers what they wanted. They did not have a search warrant, and Kenebrew refused to let them inside.
“He said I’m going in the house,” Kenebrew said of Dejong. Kenebrew said the deputy would not say why he wanted to enter the home.
However, Dejong claims to have been concerned about possible underage drinking.  “I once again advised the suspect that I needed to check on the welfare and ages of the persons inside the residence, and that at this point, I was not asking his permission to enter,” reported Dejong.
Dejong’s report continued to say that Dejong attempted to grab Kenebrew’s wrists to put them behind his back but that Kenebrew was too big and used his body to block the door. The suit goes on to say “Kenebrew refused permission each time and asked what the problem was.”
Both accounts note that guests poked their heads out twice and that both times Kenebrew told them to go back inside. At the second guest interruption, “Dejong shot Kenebrew in the back” with the taser.
Dejong then tased Kenebrew twice more when he would not roll over to put his hands behind his back.
According to the suit, the deputies entered and handcuffed two guests, “all without a warrant, probable cause or reasonable suspicion.”
The two accounts continue to differ, with Dejong claiming they waited on backup and Kenebrew saying there were already 10 deputies there. The one thing they do agree on, however, is the fact that nothing illegal was going on at the party.
The suit says Dejong said they had arrived to check on a noise complaint, despite the fact that Kenebrew only had one weak speaker that could not break noise ordinance levels at even its highest volume. Dejong’s written claim to be concerned about the age of the party-goers was thrown into question by the fact that the deputies did not check the IDs of any of the party guests.
Kenebrew and all of his guests that evening were black, but when asked if race was a factor, Kenebrew said, “I really don’t want to go that route,” though he added: “I don’t think they expected me to be the owner of the house.”
The charges against Kenebrew have since been dropped, but Kenebrew feels the excessive force used against him cannot go unchallenged.
“Deputies under Dorning’s command have learned that their justifications for using force and other unlawful actions will never be questioned,” reads the Kenebrew suit, “and that they can act with impunity.”
