A Texas man who encountered a roadblock on his way home from work is suing the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office and the deputy sheriff who allegedly tased and assaulted him after he simply questioned why he was stopped, violating his constitutional rights. The federal lawsuit filed by Samudragupta Sanyal on Nov. 11 claims that Deputy Jeremy Creech unlawfully detained, searched and assaulted him during the traffic stop, then falsely accused him of resisting arrest and driving while intoxicated. He seeks at least $1 million in damages. The incident began at 4 a.m. on May 21, 2023, when Sanyal, a medical doctor who also moonlights for Uber, was on his way home from his rideshare gig. According to his complaint, Creech flagged him down and told him his vehicle was approaching the roadblock too fast, which Sanyal denies and argues the officer’s bodycam footage clearly establishes, showing him coming to a “slow and gradual stop.” Dr. Samudragupta Sanyal was pulled over by a Galveston County Sheriff’s Office deputy on May 21, 2023. (Photo: Body camera video screenshot) After producing his driver’s license as requested, Sanyal asked the officer, “What’s going on? Why is the road blocked?” Creech responded, “You see lights and police cars, and you think you are going to drive through it?” Sanyal calmly insisted he was driving at a normal speed, to which Creech replied, “Normal speed? There’s a car in the lane of traffic.” “I know,” said Sanyal and inquired again about why traffic was stopped. “Is that your concern?” asked Creech, who, the complaint says, then suddenly acted “irate” and threatened the plaintiff, “Are you ready to go to jail?” Creech then accused Sanyal of speeding and ordered him out of the vehicle. He drew his Taser and pointed it at Sanyal, who seemed confused but complied. Creech and another officer pushed Sanyal against an adjacent vehicle, and then, “without warning,” Creech tased him, “causing him pain.” The officer’s bodycam went dark at this point, but the lawsuit alleges that Sanyal was then “beaten on the pavement, with the officer wrenching his shoulders backward, and placing his entire body weight on the Plaintiff and smashing his face into the gravel, causing several injuries,” including cuts and bruises. Sanyal was tased twice, causing him to suffer burns, said his attorney. Another police video picks up later in the arrest, in which Creech tells another officer in the sheriff’s mobile unit that Sanyal, now handcuffed, “is the Uber driver that tried to run us over,” which the lawsuit contends was a false pretense by Creech used to justify the arrest and use of force. Sanyal was charged with resisting arrest and driving while intoxicated (DWI), which the complaint claims the circumstances did not warrant and constitute malicious prosecution by Creech, who lacked probable cause to detain or arrest him on either charge. The lawsuit also alleges excessive use of force in violation of Sanyal’s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process, arguing that at no time did the plaintiff evade, flee, or resist arrest and that he was “calm, peaceful and refrained in all actions save for inquisitions as to the roadblock in question.” “This officer had no problem assaulting by taser a citizen who has done nothing except inquiring why,” Edward Rose, the plaintiff’s attorney, told Atlanta Black Star. The complaint also charges Creech with intentionally filing a false police report that included charges subsequently picked up by the district attorney’s office in Galveston County. After reviewing the bodycam video footage, the DA dismissed all of the charges against Sanyal. Sanyal’s DWI test result was negative, said Rose. The lawsuit asserts that the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office and Galveston County have demonstrated a “propensity for the abuse of citizens and police misconduct,” including the use of unlawful seizure and excessive force. It claims that the violation of Sanyal’s rights was “not an isolated incident” and that “violations of citizens’ constitutional rights” occur regularly. The sheriff’s office and county have failed to provide adequate training, supervision and discipline of deputy sheriffs in a manner that would prevent them from using excessive force and engaging in unlawful search and seizures, the complaint says. In the case of Creech, the sheriff’s office failed to adequately train him “to make use of any alternative de-escalating tactics” prior to the use of the taser and his “unlawful restraining tactics” that caused the plaintiff injury. The lawsuit also claims that the sheriff’s office “never investigates the Defendant officer for continual violations” of citizens’ rights and that Creech was not reprimanded, subjected to retraining, or otherwise made to face any consequences for his alleged unlawful use of force. It claims that the sheriff’s office has “an organizational culture that cultivated and encouraged unnecessary violence by Creech and like deputies,” creating an environment where deputies feel empowered to use unnecessary violence without fear of repercussions. Sanyal’s attorneys argue that Creech was “involved in litigation in the past that pertains to his conduct” as a law officer for the county, but the complaint does not provide any detail. Research by Atlanta Black Star discovered a civil rights lawsuit filed in Galveston County District Court in January 2022 by a 63-year-old woman who alleged that she was wrongfully arrested by Creech and the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office and charged with driving while intoxicated after she suffered a medical seizure while driving. She claimed she suffered a broken arm during the accident and was disoriented when Creech arrived on scene. Instead of granting her request for emergency transport to a hospital, Creech arrested her and sent her to jail, where she spent two days because she couldn’t bond out. Her breathalyzer reading was 0.00 for alcohol, the lawsuit said. Creech, who claimed qualified immunity, was removed as a party to that case by a judge’s order in May of 2022. Rose said his research has revealed multiple legal complaints involving Creech and that discovery in the current case is ongoing. Damages claimed by the plaintiff, a physician who is a surgeon and anesthesiologist, include physical injuries, mental and emotional pain and suffering, humiliation, loss of wages, past and future medical expenses, and out-of-pocket expenses. Sanyal seeks a jury trial and a judgment awarding general damages of at least $1 million, as well as special and punitive damages and legal costs. The sheriff’s office and the county have no claim to governmental immunity in the case, the lawsuit argues, because the plaintiff’s injuries were caused by the negligent use of the tangible personal property (the taser used to subdue Sanyal), which makes them liable, according to Texas tort law. Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Atlanta Black Star. An initial pretrial and scheduling conference for all parties in the case will be held via video on February 12, 2025, at 9 a.m., according to an order by U.S. District Court Judge Vincent Brown. ‘What’s Going On?’: Texas Deputy Allegedly Tases and Assaults Doctor at Roadblock, Falsely Accuses Him of Trying to Run Cop Over to Justify Violence, Video Shows