CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A lawsuit filed Sept. 5 alleging a police officer in Smithers and Montgomery tried to shake down the owner of a local cab company isn't the only suit pending against police there.

A Fayette County man filed a lawsuit in May, alleging Smithers and Montgomery police harassed him and violated his rights on several occasions.

Clyde Sullivan says Smithers Police Officer R.V. Neal stopped him in front of his house shortly after he left his father's bar on April 6.

According to the lawsuit, filed by attorney Mike Clifford, Sullivan was "viciously assaulted, thrown against his car and later thrown down on the pavement" by Neal. Two other Smithers officers were also present, the lawsuit alleges.

Sullivan said he had stopped at his father's bar to help him close it, and did not drink anything. He said he saw police nearby as he left the bar, and after he left, Neal pulled him over and asked if he had been drinking.

Sullivan said his father, who was driving his own car, pulled over to see what was going on.

"I told him they said I had a broken tail light," Sullivan said. "Then I said, 'I told you they saw me leave the bar.'"

Neal then became angry, cursed him and threw him to the ground, injuring his knee, Sullivan said.

When Sullivan's father told Neal that he had a cardiac pacemaker, police put him in handcuffs as well, Sullivan said.

Sullivan was taken to the police station by the three officers who cursed and belittled him for having a pacemaker, according to the lawsuit.

On April 14, Neal got a warrant for Sullivan's arrest for the April 6 incident, according to the lawsuit. The warrant was obtained by false testimony from Neal and wasn't served until May 3, when Fayette County magistrates were off duty, forcing Sullivan to be held overnight, the lawsuit alleges.

A Smithers deputy identified as Officer Roberts and a Fayette County sheriff's deputy identified as Officer Kessler served the warrant, according to the lawsuit.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A lawsuit filed Sept. 5 alleging a police officer in Smithers and Montgomery tried to shake down the owner of a local cab company isn't the only suit pending against police there.

A Fayette County man filed a lawsuit in May, alleging Smithers and Montgomery police harassed him and violated his rights on several occasions.

Clyde Sullivan says Smithers Police Officer R.V. Neal stopped him in front of his house shortly after he left his father's bar on April 6.

According to the lawsuit, filed by attorney Mike Clifford, Sullivan was "viciously assaulted, thrown against his car and later thrown down on the pavement" by Neal. Two other Smithers officers were also present, the lawsuit alleges.

Sullivan said he had stopped at his father's bar to help him close it, and did not drink anything. He said he saw police nearby as he left the bar, and after he left, Neal pulled him over and asked if he had been drinking.

Sullivan said his father, who was driving his own car, pulled over to see what was going on.

"I told him they said I had a broken tail light," Sullivan said. "Then I said, 'I told you they saw me leave the bar.'"

Neal then became angry, cursed him and threw him to the ground, injuring his knee, Sullivan said.

When Sullivan's father told Neal that he had a cardiac pacemaker, police put him in handcuffs as well, Sullivan said.

Sullivan was taken to the police station by the three officers who cursed and belittled him for having a pacemaker, according to the lawsuit.

On April 14, Neal got a warrant for Sullivan's arrest for the April 6 incident, according to the lawsuit. The warrant was obtained by false testimony from Neal and wasn't served until May 3, when Fayette County magistrates were off duty, forcing Sullivan to be held overnight, the lawsuit alleges.

A Smithers deputy identified as Officer Roberts and a Fayette County sheriff's deputy identified as Officer Kessler served the warrant, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims Roberts "refused to allow the plaintiff to contact his lawyer and refused to permit the plaintiff to retrieve his heart medication."

"Sadly I think it's pretty much demonstrative of how the police departments of Montgomery and Smithers have operated in the past couple years," Clifford said. "There appears to be a sense of lawlessness on the part of public officials that is not attended to by the administrations of either town."

Attempts to reach Neal, who is no longer a Smithers police officer, were unsuccessful. Smithers Police Chief Gary Perdue did not return calls to his cell phone.

Two Montgomery officers, identified as John Doe #3 and John Doe #4, are named in the lawsuit. Montgomery Police Chief Pete Lopez said his department was named because Perdue is a patrolman in Montgomery as well as the Smithers chief.

When Sullivan was first arrested, Montgomery officers were called to the scene as backup, though he was already in handcuffs and in the police cruiser by the time they arrived, Lopez said.

In subsequent instances, Perdue was on the scene as chief of Smithers, though he was on duty in Montgomery and driving a Montgomery police vehicle at the time, Lopez said.

The two departments used to have more officers that worked in both places, but now Perdue is the only one, Lopez said. Often 911 calls send officers from one town into the other as backup, he said. The two towns, located right at the Kanawha-Fayette county line, have no agreement beyond the mutual aid agreement that applies to all law enforcement agencies in West Virginia, he said.

In the Sept. 5 lawsuit, Veronia Strickland claims that Perdue told her that the cost of running Ray's City Cab was $2,000 a month shortly after the Powellton resident bought the business in December 2004, according to a suit filed Sept. 5 by Charleston lawyers Mike Callaghan and Mark Kelley.

Clifford said he believes there are at least a half-dozen other cases that exhibit misconduct by Montgomery or Smithers police officers. He said he plans to file several more lawsuits within the next two months.

"We are going to investigate each one separately," he said. "I want to dot all the i's and cross all the t's ahead of time. But it's rather obvious that law enforcement in Fayetteville and Charleston are not concerned at all."

Reach Gary Harki at 348-5163 or gha...@wvgazette.com.