‘I Have My Receipts!’: Michigan Police Drags Black Man Off City Bus, Beats Him Up Before Bringing Him to Walmart to Prove He Stole Items. They Were Wrong, Now He’s Filing a Lawsuit
John Fleming had committed no crime when he was accosted on a city bus three years ago by Michigan cops who accused him of shoplifting from a Walmart, kneeing and punching the then-30-year-old Black man before dragging him off the bus despite him repeatedly telling them he had receipts for his purchases.
Once off the bus, Flint Township police officers forced him to lie down face-first on the sidewalk while they continued to strike him, according to a lawsuit filed by Fleming last month.
But once they saw he had a receipt, the cops took him to the Walmart where employees – who had initially called police accusing him of shoplifting – matched his receipt to the items in his possession which proved he had stolen nothing, according to Michigan Live.
The cops released him and he was transported by ambulance to a local hospital to be treated for the injuries sustained in the arrest.
But he was then abused by officers a second time at the hospital in an incident captured on video because he refused to leave without being treated.
Fleming, 33, ended up spending three days in jail before he was cleared of all charges.
According to the lawsuit filed by Michigan attorney Amir I. Makled on March 28:
At no point did Plaintiff pose a threat to the officers or hospital staff. His conduct was nonviolent, and any resistance was passive and attributable to physical pain and confusion stemming from his injuries. The force used by Defendants was grossly excessive, unreasonable, and punitive. Following the incident, Plaintiff was maliciously prosecuted on charges of resisting and obstructing, disorderly conduct, and trespassing—charges that were later dismissed. Plaintiff has since undergone multiple surgeries and continues to suffer from physical and emotional trauma as a result of Defendants’ conduct.
Listed as defendants in the lawsuit are Flint township police officers Jason Piercey and Sgt. Michael Nemecheck, the cops who accosted him on the bus, along with Genesee County sheriff’s deputies Corey Sheroski and Sean Clayton, who abused him at the hospital.
The lawsuit accuses the officers of unlawful detention and seizure and is asking for more than $75,000 for damages.
“He was just at Walmart, shopping for his business where he was profiled… as a thief,” Fleming’s sister Jasmine Burrell, told WJRT a month after the incident.
“He had receipts for the items for purchase. they didn’t bother to look at his receipts – he kept yelling ‘I have my receipts.’”
Surveillance video from the bus confirms he was yelling about his receipts, footage included in the video below from the hospital.
The First Beating
The incident took place on April 2, 2022, after Fleming took the bus to make purchases at Sam’s Club and Walmart.
After making his purchases, he walked out of the Walmart toward the bus stop when he realized he needed change for the bus fare so he turned back around to re-enter the Walmart in the hopes of obtaining change.
However, a Walmart employee demanded his receipt and he refused to provide it, telling the employee he was not required to show a receipt to enter the store.
He then proceeded to get change for the bus before walking back out of the store.
But the employee was not happy about Fleming not showing his receipt and called police, accusing the Black man of shoplifting.
Fleming was on the bus on his way home when Flint Township police pulled the bus over to confront him about the alleged shoplifting which he denied and insisted on showing them his receipts.
But the cops began abusing him by kneeing him as well as slamming his head into a pole on the bus, drawing blood, Michigan Live reported in 2022.
After they abused him, they took him to the Walmart where employees compared his receipt to his items and determined he had purchased the items in his possession from Walmart and Sam’s Club.
That was when Flint police released him from their custody and he was transported by ambulance to Hurley Medical Center.
The Second Beating
The confrontation at the hospital began when a nurse told Fleming to get out of the bed he was lying in because it was needed for another patient.
But Fleming told the nurse he was unable to get out of bed due to his injuries inflicted by police.
“After he goes seek medical attention… He told her my ribs hurt I’m in pain, I can’t move. But she tells him to get out of the bed and get in a wheelchair,” his sister told WJRT.
But instead of examining him, nurses wheeled him into the hospital lobby where he was met by the Genesee County sheriff’s deputies who began beating on him with their fists and knees and threatening to taser him, the claim states.
He was jailed on charges of trespassing, disorderly conduct and resisting and interfering, spending three days behind bars before he was released.
“I’m hurt,” Fleming told Michigan Live after leaving jail.
“I’ve got bruises on my back from where their knees were into me. They were kneeing me in my back.”
A month later, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton told local media he would not be prosecuting Fleming on any of the charges.
“Mr. Fleming was traumatized by his arrest and he reacted. I am not going to criminalize his response,” the prosecutor told WJRT.
“The incident at Hurley was unfortunate but, I found no probable cause that would warrant criminal charges against Mr. Fleming,”
But the prosecutor also said he found no probable cause to charge the officers who beat Fleming.
“And while I encourage police officers to use de-escalation methods when safe to do so, I find no probable cause that any officer committed a crime,” Leyton said.