Two Pueblo men have filed an excessive force lawsuit against the city’s police department and four of its officers over a physical altercation outside a city bar that the plaintiffs said were unprompted.

Brothers Christian A. Guerrero and Victor J. Guerrero wrote in their claim to the U.S. District Court for Colorado that on April 6, 2019, they were at The Favorite Tavern around 1:30 in the morning when they and a third sibling decided to return home. Outside of the bar, there was a crowd of approximately 40 people and police officers responding to a disturbance.

One of the bar’s security employees was speaking with Christian and the third brother about their role in an alleged altercation when, the Guerreros wrote, Sergeant Stephen Jesik “ran across the street and grabbed Victor from behind in a bear hug without identifying himself as a police officer.”

When Christian ran over to assist Victor, other officers “swarmed” the Guerreros, with multiple officers allegedly kicking and punching Christian in the head and face and rendering him unconscious, the lawsuit states. They then “further brutalized” him by trying to put him into a police vehicle, calling an ambulance after they were unsuccessful, according to the lawsuit.

Police also arrested Victor, despite his contention that he committed no crime. Local media reported at the time that an unnamed man attempted to grab the gun of an officer during the interaction. “As officers tried to quell the melee, Sgt. Steve Jesik was attacked by a male who attempted to take his gun out of its holster,” said Captain Tom Rummel after the incident, according to The Chieftain.

The Guerreros’ lawyer, Gregory C. Graf, said that such a claim was “not supported by police body cams or the civilian video.” Graf provided a video posted to Facebook at the time depicting multiple officers punching a man on the ground. He said that Jesik’s claims about his clients appeared to be false, and cited another federal lawsuit against Jesik as proof that this was not his “first rodeo.” A jury cleared Jesik of those excessive force claims in 2015.

The Guerreros allege violations of their constitutional rights, which resulted from a failure of the Pueblo Police Department to properly train its officers. The department stated that it could not comment on pending litigation.

The case is Christian A. Guerrero, et al. v. City of Pueblo, et al.

Guerrero complaint