LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville Metro Police officers yanked an elderly man out of his home and slammed him right to the pavement.
He's stayed quiet about what happened until now. Years later, he spoke to WDRB News on Thursday after the city paid him a six-figure settlement.
Frank Serapiglia hardly could react before his body hit the pavement.
"Within four seconds, I was flying off the porch," Serapiglia said. "That's how much time they gave me and they said I failed to comply."
The then 71-year-old was barefoot and wearing a bathrobe.
"They had me pushed down into the brick pavement so hard I couldn't even breathe," he said.
Police responded to his Hurstbourne home in September 2019 after his wife called police saying he shot her in the head.
But there was no shooting. Serapiglia said his wife suffered from dementia and frequently hallucinated.
She died just a few months later.
Serapiglia was left with broken bones and other injuries. He recently settled a lawsuit with the city for $250,000.
LMPD was responsible for paying all but $5,000 of that amount.
"Standard operating procedure would've been to find out what was going on before they reacted in such a manner," Serapiglia said.
How officers described what happened added insult to injury.
"He was noncompliant. We told him step outside, he wouldn't step outside," an LMPD officer said back in 2019 in body camera footage of the incident. "So we grabbed him to pull him out, he lost his footing and fell to the ground."
"He not only pulled me out then he pushed me down and forward. Which was totally crazy," Serapiglia said.
Serapiglia said the whole ordeal simply shattered his trust in the people sworn to protect and serve.
"Did any of these officers get disciplined for what they did? From what I understand I don't think they did," Serapiglia said.
"I used to have the utmost respect for police officers but not anymore," he said. "No, no more."
Related Stories:
- Elderly Louisville man yanked from home and slammed to ground by police receives $250,000 settlement
- Feds investigating LMPD: How did we get here?
- LAWSUIT: Video shows police hurling 71-year-old man in bathrobe to ground
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