Lawsuit to be filed against APD officer for wrongful arrest, all charges dropped against victim
ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - On August 4, Alexandria Police Department officer Jim Lewis was arrested by Louisiana State Police for malfeasance in office and injuring public records charges in connection to a shoplifting case.
Prior to Lewis’ arrest, he was named as a defendant in a lawsuit claiming he violated a New Mexico couple’s fourth amendment right during a traffic stop in June of 2022.
Now another lawsuit that names Lewis as a defendant is making its way to federal court, claiming Lewis wrongfully arrested James Milligan, 53, of Ball, in February of this year. Milligan was arrested on one count of interfering with an investigation and two counts of illegal carrying of weapons, which have all been dropped after prosecutors found he committed no crimes and there was no probable cause for his arrest.
That interaction that led to Milligan’s wrongful arrest started on February 4, when Lewis pulled his APD unit into the parking lot of a MacArthur Drive bar to assist another officer who was already on the scene with a traffic stop. Body camera footage shows Lewis exit his police unit before spotting a man, later identified as Milligan, across the parking lot. Just over a minute later, Milligan is in handcuffs.
In the body camera footage, Milligan can be seen walking toward the officers before he stops and asks them a question. Lewis then proceeds to order Milligan away. Milligan then pulls out his phone to video record the situation, that’s when Lewis closes the gap between the two and arrests Milligan.
Milligan, who has never been arrested before, is a member of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club. He believes he was profiled by Lewis because of that.
“It’s uncalled for,” Milligan told News Channel 5. “I mean it goes both ways - should we be profiling the police? I don’t need to be profiled. I have the freedom to ride a motorcycle and enjoy life, there’s no law against that.”
Documented on body camera footage, the first thing Lewis says after he sees Milligan in the parking lot is “Tell me you’re a one-percenter,” referring to a patch members of motorcycle clubs often wear. Later during the arrest, Lewis admits to profiling Milligan because the jacket he was wearing identified him as a Bandidos member.
Body Camera Transcription:
“You are arresting me for what charges?” asks Milligan.
“Interfering with an investigation,” said Lewis. “I told you twice, you come up to me wearing a one-percenter jacket, you’re armed.
“So you’re profiling me,” Milligan stated.
“Absolutely!” responded Lewis. “You profiled yourself, you don’t think I know what a Bandido is?”
Attorney Randall Hayes, who represents Milligan, agrees that he was profiled and wrongfully arrested.
“We have every right in this country to affiliate into a club. Motorcyclists are not criminals, they shouldn’t be treated like criminals,” said Hayes. “My client has no criminal record, he’s never been arrested, he’s 53 years old and that was the first time he had ever been in the back of a police car. My client is not a criminal.”
Milligan’s illegal carrying of weapon charges stemmed from the fact that he was carrying a concealed pistol and brass knuckles at the time of his arrest. But Milligan is a concealed carry permit holder, meaning he is allowed to possess those concealed weapons.
“I’ve had a concealed carry permit for several years and I’ve never had any issues and thank God I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve had to use it,” Milligan told KALB.
Lewis contends in the body camera footage and in the police report from the incident that he witnessed Milligan exit the bar, a place weapons are not allowed. Milligan disputed that claim during his arrest and afterward.
Body Camera Transcription:
Lewis: “Are you supposed to have that weapon in the bar?”
Milligan: “I wasn’t in the bar, have you seen me in a bar?”
Lewis: “I saw you walk out of the bar.”
Milligan: “No sir.”
Lewis: “Yes I did – I sure did.”
Milligan: “If you say so, sir.”
No footage presented to authorities showed Milligan inside of the bar, leading to the charges against him being dropped.
“Mr. Milligan was completely forthright about his possession of these weapons,” said Hayes. “Officer Lewis claims that he saw Mr. Milligan exit a bar, but you can see on the video that did not happen.”
Milligan’s arrest is at least the third case involving Lewis that has been reported for misconduct at APD. The first was in November 2022 when he was named as a defendant in a civil rights lawsuit for allegedly violating a couple’s fourth amendment right during a traffic stop that June. Then in August of this year, Lewis was arrested for malfeasance in office and injuring public records relating to a shoplifting case.
Now, Milligan and Hayes are planning to file a lawsuit by the end of August against Lewis and possibly other officers - claiming Milligan’s first, second and fourth amendment rights were violated during his arrest.
Hayes claimed that with Lewis’ history of misconduct, there are likely others that have had similar interactions with him.
“Lewis has a pattern of lying on police reports,” said Hayes. “These three known cases are not the only cases where this has happened I’m sure, and we wanted to speak out about this so that other people that this has happened to will be more likely to come forward. There is a very realistic possibility that there are people sitting in jail or sitting in prison right now because of lies Jim Lewis has put into police reports.”
Since his arrest by LSP, Lewis has been placed on administrative leave.
Defense Attorney John Flynn, who represents Lewis on the case in which he was arrested, provided this statement to KALB:
“I represent Officer Jim Lewis in connection with his arrest for injuring public records and malfeasance in office. Mr. Lewis adamantly denies the allegations and looks forward to an opportunity to defend himself against them.”
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