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Man ‘cooked on asphalt’ set to sue Phoenix PD for $15M

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PHOENIX — A man who suffered third-degree burns across much of his body after Phoenix officers pinned him face-down on the scorching-hot pavement has taken the first step to file a federal lawsuit against the city.

Michael Kenyon and his attorneys filed an official notice of claim on December 30.

The claim said Kenyon will settle the case for $15,530,000 or he will sue the city in federal court.

“Michael is 30 years old. At an average life expectancy, he should live another 42 years. That is 15,330 days,” according to the claim. “We are confident that not a single one of you would choose to live in Michael’s disfigured body and traumatized mind for $1,000 a day—and we are confident a jury would agree that this is a modest sum for what the Phoenix Police Department has caused to him.”

RELATED: Man suffers third-degree burns while being held on hot pavement by Phoenix police

A city spokesperson declined to comment on the claim but confirmed the matter is still under an internal police investigation.

ABC15 first reported on Kenyon’s case in late October.

The incident happened on the afternoon of July 6, 2024, when the temperature reached 114º in central Phoenix.

Surveillance video shows Kenyon was stopped by officers and questioned in a parking lot near 7th and McKinley streets. After both sides began pulling against each other, a handful of officers took Kenyon down to the blacktop and kept him there for more than four minutes.

A witness from a nearby balcony began recording in the middle of the incident.

The cell phone video shows Kenyon yelling out, “please… please… I can’t move. I didn’t do anything.” [ABC15 has requested body camera videos from the incident, but Phoenix has not yet released any of the footage.]

“Phoenix police are demonstrating an utter disregard for human life over and over again,” said Bobby DiCello, one of Kenyon’s attorneys, during a previous interview with ABC15. “This young man was burned to the third degree because his skin was cooked on asphalt.”

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In police records, officers said Kenyon struggled with their officers.

Kenyon, who has not been charged with a crime related to the incident, spent more than a month hospitalized with burns on his face, arms, chest, and legs.

Chunks of flesh are now missing from above his knees.

Kenyon’s notice of claim accuses Phoenix police of having a lack of training, unconstitutional practices, and a violent culture, which were findings in a scathing Department of Justice investigation released in June 2024.

“The Mayor’s and City Council’s rejection of the Department of Justice’s findings is already well-publicized,” according to the claim. “But this situation is very difficult to square with any [belief] that this is a Department that is even minimally professional, accountable, or respectful of the residents it is charged to ‘serve and protect.’”

The claim continued, “On July 6, 2024—a day that hit 114 degrees—four City of Phoenix police officer pressed a human being [on] black asphalt, during the heat of the day, for 4 minutes. And there is little doubt due to a lack of training and supervision. Indeed, through 1,147 pages of Operations Orders, there does not appear to be a single word guiding officers about the severe risk of injury posed by holding subjects against pavement.”

Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@abc15.com.