LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A violent take-down... tasers drawn... as multiple marshals tackle Las Vegas local Tim McCoy.
"It made me feel like an animal," Tim said.
The exclusive investigation that has city leaders defending officers while families demand accountability.
"Within five minutes of us parking our car, my brother's on the ground!" recalls Alissa King. "This escalated very quickly."
Tim and his sister, Alissa, say they're familiar with law enforcement practices because they come from a law enforcement and military family. Their aunt served as chief of police in Cleveland for over a decade.
"You have to treat people like people! And the fact that you're wearing a uniform doesn't make me less of a person," Alissa said.
Surveillance camera footage shows how their interaction with city marshals began on the night of Nov. 11, 2023.
Along with her boyfriend, Kenny Kennedy, Alissa and Tim arrived at the Fremont Street Experience around 9 p.m., where they planned to have dinner and walk around.
"Fremont's the spot to go for a lot of locals, so it was almost like any other night for us," Tim said.
The trio, in Alissa's silver Hyundai Sonata, parked at the Neonopolis parking garage. As they exited the elevator, Tim explains, "They (marshals) approached me, very hostile, finger in my face, what are you doing here, what happened back there, why did you make those hand gestures? I was very confused because I'm like, what hand gestures are you referring to?"
Because he didn't know what the marshals were talking about, Tim and his group began to walk away, which is when marshals tackled him from behind.
Alissa says she feared the worst, "That they're going to kill my brother!" So, she pulled out her cell phone and started recording.
On the recording is the following exchange:
Alissa: We just got here!
Marshal Jonathan Gallegos: Back up!
Alissa: Don't touch me! Don't touch me! Don't touch me!
Marshal: I'll tase!
Kenny: Ya'll are being racist!
As Tim is tackled to the ground, a marshal kneels on his hair and Alissa continues shouting, "My brother did nothing! We just got here!"
The entire interaction is captured on Alissa's and Kenny's cell phones, as well as marshal body camera videos obtained by 13 Investigates.
"And they ripped out about four or five of my dreadlocks just trying to take me to the ground," Tim said.
Through tears, Alissa recalls, "I think they're gonna kill my brother right here on Fremont in front of my face."
But marshals had the wrong man. It turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.
In Officer Jorge Caloca's police report, he said marshals were looking for the driver of a black Dodge Durango who allegedly made a threatening hand gesture "... Using his finger to pull the trigger and simulate shooting at police officers."
Area surveillance video shows that black Dodge Durango driving into the Neonopolis parking garage right after the silver Hyundai sedan Tim is driving.
The Durango's occupants come up the elevator right before Tim, Alissa and Kenny.
Tim and the Durango driver are dressed differently, but both are black and have dreadlocks.
"When you review the videotapes, you see the people that they're looking for, for these hand gestures," said Attorney George Robinson. "My clients came in about a minute after them and then they are surrounded and aggressively questioned by officers about a topic that they just had nothing to do with."
Robinson is representing Tim, Alissa and Kenny in a federal lawsuit against the City of Las Vegas and six marshals for assault and battery, excessive force, unlawful arrest and false imprisonment.
Marshals claim in their report that they told Tim he was detained shortly after the group got out of the elevator, but there's not proof of that because the body camera audio wasn't on yet.
"To me, it just seems suspicious," said Robinson. "There are so many officers on the scene and we have the body cameras but we don't have audio until they tackle my client."
The lawsuit says Tim was punched repeatedly, and as you can see in body cam and cell phone video, marshals held a taser to his side, handcuffed him, then marched him through the Fremont Street Experience before detaining him for hours in front of a police car.
"I felt awful, I felt helpless, and I felt like there was nobody there for me or for us," Tim recalls.
As tensions escalate, body camera footage shows Alissa and Kenny trying to get answers about the person who supposedly made hand gestures.
Kenny: Can you tell me what car he drives?
Marshal Jorge Caloca: It doesn't matter. It literally does not matter. You wanna go to jail too? We can take you to jail too.
Marshal Sergio Guzman: We don't have to tell you guys anything at this point.
Kenny: Because ya'll don't know the car! Because ya'll don't know who did it!
Caloca: I detained him (Tim). It doesn't matter.
Kenny: It doesn't matter because you detained him?
Caloca: It doesn't matter.
Kenny: You don't know who did it!
Caloca: Okay. He (Tim) is still going to jail, regardless.
Kenny: Oh, because he's a black man! (The officer shrugs) And he was just the first one you saw, huh?
Caloca: Okay.
Kenny: It could have been me! It could have been anybody!
Guzman: That's all you guys do! You play the race card! It's not about that! It's not about that!
Kenny: Then what is it about?!
Guzman: Committing crimes!
Kenny: What car does he drive? You can't tell me!
Guzman: It's about committing crimes! Committing crimes! You gotta play the race card! Don't play the race card! Don't play the race card!
Marshal Sergio Guzman continues arguing with Kenny. Kenny continues recording. Then, things escalate again.
Guzman: I'm telling you to back up. Now you're being detained.
Marshal off camera: Tase him! Tase him! You're gonna get tased! You're gonna get tased!
Kenny: Man! My hair!
Alissa: Don't grab his dreads! I saw you!
Marshal: I could arrest you right now too!
Alissa: For what?!
Marshal: For trying to intervene!
After Kenny is cuffed and confined to Guzman's car, the marshal sits on the curb with an injured knee, claiming Kenny is to blame.
"He came at me," Guzman tells other marshals on the scene. "He charged at me and then we landed, and he landed right on me."
Body camera footage shows Guzman grabbing Kenny's hand that he was holding the phone with and taking him down along with other marshals. At no point in the footage do we see Kenny come at him.
"The officers in the case really make a number of misrepresentations in the report," said Attorney Robinson. "They misrepresent what was said, they misrepresent what they did. The officers in this case just put lies in the report."
In Tim's case report, Officer Caloca claims Tim had independent knowledge about the "gun hand signals," and says Tim had "a set of Dodge keys similar to (those) of a Dodge Durango" in his possession. Caloca later walked back the statement about the hand signals, writing, "It's possible another officer mentioned the gun gestures to (Tim)."
Robinson says there were no Dodge keys entered into evidence.
"There were so many misrepresentations made in the reports to justify this unconstitutional conduct," Robinson said.
"What was the probable cause to even stop anyone in this case--be it the Durango drivers or your client?" Spears asked. "Is making a hand gesture against the law?"
"I don't believe that it is." Robinson said. "And as part of our lawsuit, we stated that there was no probable cause at all. The officers were just extremely aggressive, and I think that they were just mad about this person giving this hand gesture. And to top it off, it's the wrong person!"
Citing lack of evidence, marshals did not arrest Tim. A total of 11 officers participated in what ended up as a misdemeanor citation for obstruction. He allegedly obstructed Caloca as the marshal was investigating the crime of "intimidating a public officer," which goes back to the hand signal in question.
Kenny was arrested and charged with battery on an officer. In the report, Guzman wrote that Kenny, "placed his phone inches from my face... began to lunge towards me... and punched me in the testicles." Guzman then says he punched Kenny in the face three times to "gain compliance."
"He (Kenny) ended up actually spending the night in jail that night, so he actually caught the worst of it, for holding a cell phone up," Tim said.
Robinson explained, "I had to go to the prosecutors, show them all the videos, tell them about all the misrepresentations that were in the reports and ultimately, they dismissed the case."
Both cases were dismissed. The one against Kenny, and Tim's criminal citation.
"It's intolerable," said Robinson. "And the citizenry needs to know that this could happen to anyone. It probably happened to my clients because they were black, but really, if they're in these aggressive moods and they're acting like bullies, like they did in this case, the citizenry just needs to beware."
Two other citizens have filed lawsuits naming Marshal Sergio Guzman.
The other case, that we reported in April, was filed by the ACLU of Nevada on behalf of a City of Las Vegas employee. He alleges excessive force, constitutional violations, unlawful detention and assault during an illegal traffic stop.
WATCH | Second civil rights lawsuit accuses City of Las Vegas Marshals of abusing their authority
I noted to Robinson that it appears, based on court filings, that there's a pattern here.
"Yes, and that's what we see, too," said Robinson. "And some of the officers are named in numerous lawsuits, and they're just thuggish bullies."
Despite all this, the marshals have Mayor Shelley Berkley's full support, as she told Channel 13 in a recent interview with our political correspondent, Steve Sebelius.
"I'm very keenly aware of these lawsuits," Berkley said. "I think they are frivolous, and I hope they are dismissed because I think our marshals do a great job, they work hard, they put their lives on the line every single day."
Local News
Mayor backs marshals despite lawsuits alleging they operate outside jurisdiction
When we asked for another interview about the specific conduct in this case, the city declined.
"Numerous complaints have been filed. Numerous lawsuits have been filed. And so, the city knows that there's a problem and they just don't want to deal with it," Robinson said.
"What do you want the marshals as a department, and city leaders to hear from you?" I asked Alissa.
"That it's not okay. And that people are going to fight it. And that if you don't address the behaviors this is only going to get worse," Alissa said.
13 Investigates has also learned of a fourth federal lawsuit against the City of Las Vegas filed by one of their own. A former marshal is suing for wrongful termination, racial discrimination, harassment and retaliation, claiming he reported misconduct, but leadership refused to hold officers accountable.
We'll be closely following and reporting on all four of those federal cases.