LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Kentucky State Police trooper indicted in March for allegedly assaulting multiple people and committing perjury is now facing a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of a construction worker he is accused of macing and repeatedly tasing without reason.
The lawsuit against Trooper James Cameron Wright was filed Monday on behalf of Dawson Blevins, who was on the way to a job site in Hardin County with a co-worker when they were pulled over for an alleged seatbelt violation on June 19, 2024.
The most recent allegations against Wright weren't included in the indictment against him.
It's the second lawsuit recently filed against Wright accusing him of using excessive force by tasing and assaulting an unarmed man after a routine traffic stop.
A federal grand jury in Louisville in March charged Wright and one former and current trooper with using unreasonable force for assaulting several people without reason from 2021 to 2024. The case is pending.
The criminal case against Blevins was just dismissed in earlier this month, so federal prosecutors likely didn't know about the incident before Wright was indicted, according to one of the attorneys representing Blevins.
In body camera video obtained by WDRB News, Wright told Blevins to get out of the car because the driver said there might be a small amount of a marijuana cigarette, or "roach," inside.
When Blevins reluctantly got out of the vehicle, Wright immediately tried to put his hands behind his back and told him to drop the wallet and phone and cigarettes in his hand.
After Blevins said he wanted to record the incident on his phone, Wright told him he was under arrest and threw him to the ground. (When Blevins complained later about having back problems, Wright said he was lying because "when I tossed you to the ground, you tried standing up on me. It's all on camera.")
When Blevins stood back up, Wright told him he was under arrest and to get on the ground, the body camera shows.
"For what?!" Blevins asked as he stood up. Wright then tased him from about 10 feet away and Blevins crumpled to the ground.
"Get on the ground or you are going to get it again!" Wright yelled at him.
"I'm on the ground mother f*****," Blevins screamed.
"Lay on your belly!" Wright told him.
"I am!" Blevins said.
Wright then tased him again.
"Put your hands behind your back" Wright told him just before tasing him again.
"I can't!" screamed Blevins, whose body appeared to be twitching and having involuntary muscle spasms.
Wright tased him again as Blevins continued to plead that he was unable to put his hands behind his back.
The trooper then walked up to Blevins, whose body was now flat on the ground with his face on the pavement, not moving, and maced him in the eyes.
"What's your problem man?!" Blevins sobbed as Wright continued to tell him to put his hands behind his back.
Blevins appeared to try to put his hands behind his back but is unable to fully do so, the video shows.
Wright told him again to put his arms behind his back or he will be "lit up again."
"They are!" Blevins screamed. "They are behind my back."
"All the way," Wright said.
"Don't you move, bub" Wright told him as he handcuffed him.
"I didn't do nothing" Blevins repeatedly said, groaning in pain. "What the fu**. That hurts so bad."
He was taken from the scene in an ambulance.
The lawsuit came a little more than three months after the March 4 indictment. Wright, 30, is accused of kicking one person identified only as "Victim 1" in the head, shoulders and torso without legal justification on March 5, 2020.
The indictment alleges that Wright tased another person, "Victim 3," on March 12, 2024, without justification.
And on Jan. 22, 2021, Wright allegedly lied under oath about the use of force in an April 9, 2020, arrest of "Victim 4," specifically whether he hit the victim with closed fist or elbow, according to the indictment. He is charged with perjury.
A KSP spokeswoman sent a statement saying Wright has been suspended since his indictment.
"The Kentucky State Police (KSP) has not been served with this lawsuit," she wrote. "KSP is committed to upholding the highest standards of professionalism, ethics, and morals in service to the citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky."
The new lawsuit accuses Wright of pulling over Blevins and a co-worker last year while they were working and on their way to a job site. The justification for the traffic stop was that the co-worker was not wearing his seatbelt, according to the lawsuit and Wright's body camera video.
The co-worker, who was driving, told Wright he was on probation and didn't have anything to hide but "after much prompting, convinced him" to say there may be a marijuana "roach" in the vehicle, according to the lawsuit.
The driver of the car, who told police he hadn't smoked marijuana in six months, wasn't charged. No marijuana appeared to be found in the car.
During Blevins' arrest, he suffered two compression fractures to his spine, according to his attorneys, Garry Adams and David Ward.
"Trooper Wright just kept shocking (Blevins) with his taser even after (he) was complying with his commands," the attorneys allege in the lawsuit. Blevins "was yelling and asking him why he was doing this to him and literally crying out and telling him that he couldn't put his hands behind his back."
The lawsuit alleges that while Blevins lay "helpless on the ground," Wright "finished him off with a spray of mace to his face and eyes for no apparent reason other than to terrorize him."
When Blevins later asked Wright why he was being arrested, the trooper told him he failed to drop his phone when told to and "you were tense on me," according to the body camera video.
"I can't believe you did all this sh** to me," Blevins told him. "What did I do to you?"
He spent more than four months in jail after being charged with obstructing governmental operations, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance, according to court records.
The video does show Wright pulling a bag of something out of Blevins' pants after he is handcuffed.
All of the charges were dismissed on a motion by the Hardin County Commonwealth's Attorney's office on June 4.
The lawsuit accused Wright of including multiple false statements in the arrest report to justify his use of unreasonable force.
He said on the body camera to another trooper that Blevins did not cooperate until he was maced.
"After he fell to the ground, he tried to get up like he was going to walk or run away or fight," Wright said. The body cam video does not show Blevins appearing to do any of those things.
The suit names several other defendants who work for KSP, including the commissioner, accusing them of covering up Wright's actions despite a long pattern of misconduct. In fact, he was named trooper of the year in 2021, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is seeking unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
A similar lawsuit against Wright was filed in federal court earlier this year concerning the March 12 incident, with John Millett III accusing Wright of pulling him over in West Point for allegedly failing to use his turn signal.
The lawsuit claims Wright suspected Millett had been drinking and asked him to step out of the vehicle.
Next, according to body camera footage described in the lawsuit, Wright yelled for Millett not to reach for anything as Millett tosses something into his front seat. Millett raised his hands, showing only a cellphone, according to the lawsuit, and "even though (Millett) didn't resist, the trooper threw him to the ground."
Wright demanded Millett put his hands behind his back and get on his belly, which Millett does, according to the lawsuit, but seconds later Wright tased him twice despite his compliance, the suit claims.
The lawsuit also alleges that after Millett was pulled to his feet and handcuffed, Wright threw him to the ground again. He was taken to Baptist Hospital for treatment where he claims he had seven fractured ribs, a dislocated shoulder and other injuries.
Millet eventually pleaded guilty to reduced charges.
Wright is scheduled for a hearing in U.S. District Court in Louisville on Sept. 16.
This story may be updated.
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