LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Nearly five years ago, Louisville Metro Police Officer Gregory Satterly filed a lawsuit to get his job back after he was fired for using excessive force on three separate occasions, with the chief at the time noting the "community needs to be protected from you."

Finally, late last month, that lawsuit was dismissed on a motion by Satterly who still maintains "that his termination was unjustified and not supported by the evidence," according to a Sept. 24 dismissal order.

Satterly said recent opinions from the Kentucky Supreme Court in dismissing lawsuits filed by other officers trying to get their jobs back render his legal arguments "no longer realistic."

The city, according to the dismissal by Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Brian Edwards, maintains that Satterly's termination "was justified and supported by substantial evidence."

It is unclear why the lawsuit has been pending for so many years.

Over a period of two years in 2016 and 2017, Satterly was found to have tased a woman who was on the ground with her hands behind her back and threw two handcuffed citizens to the ground, berating and cursing them. He was not fired until April 2019.

In the termination letter, former Chief Steve Conrad said that after reviewing body camera from the three cases of alleged use of force violations, he concluded Satterly had a "pattern of aggressive and angry behavior."

"Unfortunately, after reviewing these cases, I believe our community needs to be protected from you," Conrad wrote.

Gregory Satterly former LMPD Officer

Gregory Sattterly (image source: LMPD archives).

While Satterly admitted his actions were excessive in some of the incidents, the lawsuit, filed in January 2020 against the city and Louisville Police Merit Board, which upheld the chief's findings, claims he was not allowed to confront the witnesses against him or present evidence in his favor.

For example, Satterly's doctor was not allowed to testify about his fitness for duty, including that he was undergoing therapy for PTSD stemming from a "critical incident" he previously suffered, according to the suit.

And Satterly's attorney, David Leightty, argued in the suit that the merit board was inappropriately told about other alleged misconduct that was not included in the officer's termination letter.

The city paid the woman who was tased and her husband $50,000 to settle the case before a lawsuit was filed.

Body camera video obtained by WDRB shows Nyshan Beckam on the ground several feet away from Satterly, sitting on her hands when she was tased on Oct. 13, 2016.

Satterly's body cam video shows him back up from the woman and say, "Alright, here we go," before Tazing her, even though she was not a threat, Conrad said in the termination letter.

"It is clear you made up your mind to tase (the woman); her subsequent compliance did not alter your course," Conrad wrote. "I believe you acted out of anger rather than out of a perceived threat of immediate danger to an officer or another person."

But while the investigation was pending, Satterly apparently remained on active duty and was found by police to have used excessive force on two more occasions.

The same month Conrad opened an investigation into the arrests of the Beckams, Satterly threw a handcuffed man to the ground, where he was berated, cursed and told "Listen to me boy!" according to the officer's April termination letter.

An investigation into that incident began on June 28, 2017, according to police records.

Even as two excessive force investigations were ongoing, Satterly apparently continued to remain on active duty.

And on Nov. 22, 2017, Satterly "used unreasonable force" on another handcuffed suspect, taking him to the ground and injuring the man, Conrad wrote in the April termination letter. That internal investigation began on Nov. 28, 2017.

It would still take another year and a half before Satterly was fired.

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