MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - A Hickory Hill father says he wants justice, after he says his son and his son's friend were beaten by Memphis Police officers after a night out.
"I get a group of guys and we go out here and jump somebody and beat them, I am going to be in jail," said a clearly disgusted Quinton Lytle.
"It shouldn't matter that these guys are policeman, if anything they should know better," Lytle added.
Lytle said his son, Quinton Lytle Jr., and his son's friend Michael McDonald, were walking to their car with several friends after a night out on Beale Street around 2:30 a.m. on July 4, 2011.
According to a federal lawsuit the two men filed about the incident, the group was approached by an unidentified man outside MPD's old Entertainment District Unit substation.
The lawsuit states, the man said, "Take your snow bunnies and keep it moving," a reference to the white women who were with the two men.
A fight ensued, with several other men joining the brawl.
Lytle and McDonald insist the men never identified themselves as Memphis police officers until the end.
"He said 'Dad, when they put the handcuffs behind my back, they started beating me and I thought I was going to die,'" said Lytle, recounting a conversation with his son right after the incident.
The alleged incident happened hours after Officer Timothy Warren was shot and killed inside the DoubleTree Hotel in Downtown Memphis as he rushed to a shooting call.
"Those guys were mourning officer Warrren's death that night, to me it is not like they are trying to go get into something else," said Michael Williams, President of the Memphis Police Association.
"That night, they had one of their comrades killed, I understand that, but what they have to know is we trust them," Lytle said.
"You can't blame my son, or jump my son, or beat my son up, because some other incident happened. You can't do that," he added.
Late last month, nearly a year-and-a-half later, seven Memphis Police officers were suspended. The Shelby County District Attorney's Office cleared the seven of wrongdoing.
Lytle and McDonald are seeking $2.5 million each in their lawsuit.
"I want justice served. I want the people to know who these guys are, I want the people to know or see the city in a situation where they get to do what's right," Lytle said.
