Click here to read the lawsuit. 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Fayette County man who was allegedly beaten and Maced by Montgomery police officers last month filed a lawsuit today in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Twan Reynolds and his wife, Lauren, maintain Patrolmen Matthew Leavitt and Shawn Hutchinson hit Twan Reynolds in the head with a blackjack and handcuffed Lauren Reynolds during a traffic stop at the 7-Eleven store in Montgomery on Sept. 26.

"All the while defendants Leavitt and Hutchinson were cursing, belittling, humiliating and degrading the plaintiffs and using racially derogatory terms," the suit alleges.

The City of Montgomery and Police Chief Pete A. Lopez are also named as defendants.

Montgomery Mayor Jim Higgins fired Hutchinson for insubordination and placed Leavitt on administrative leave in the wake of the incident.

Twan Reynolds is black. Lauren Reynolds and Leavitt and Hutchinson are white.

The suit maintains Leavitt licked Lauren Reynolds on the neck while she was handcuffed at the Montgomery police station.

"In addition, after [Twan Reynolds] kissed his wife in the police station, the defendant Leavitt sprayed Mace in his own hand and rubbed the chemical in plaintiff Twan Reynolds' face, eyes, and mouth, stating, 'We're not having any of this [expletive] here,'" the suit maintains.

The suit accuses Lopez of helping the officers by diverting another officer from providing assistance to Twan and Lauren Reynolds and stopping Leavitt and Hutchinson.

Leavitt has maintained that Twan Reynolds became violent during a routine traffic stop and had to be subdued.

"This was not Rodney King," he told the Gazette last week. This was an out-of-control suspect and his wife."

The suit, filed by Charleston attorneys Mike Clifford, Ed ReBrook and Martin Smith, seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages.

Click here to read the lawsuit. 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Fayette County man who was allegedly beaten and Maced by Montgomery police officers last month filed a lawsuit today in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Twan Reynolds and his wife, Lauren, maintain Patrolmen Matthew Leavitt and Shawn Hutchinson hit Twan Reynolds in the head with a blackjack and handcuffed Lauren Reynolds during a traffic stop at the 7-Eleven store in Montgomery on Sept. 26.

"All the while defendants Leavitt and Hutchinson were cursing, belittling, humiliating and degrading the plaintiffs and using racially derogatory terms," the suit alleges.

The City of Montgomery and Police Chief Pete A. Lopez are also named as defendants.

Montgomery Mayor Jim Higgins fired Hutchinson for insubordination and placed Leavitt on administrative leave in the wake of the incident.

Twan Reynolds is black. Lauren Reynolds and Leavitt and Hutchinson are white.

The suit maintains Leavitt licked Lauren Reynolds on the neck while she was handcuffed at the Montgomery police station.

"In addition, after [Twan Reynolds] kissed his wife in the police station, the defendant Leavitt sprayed Mace in his own hand and rubbed the chemical in plaintiff Twan Reynolds' face, eyes, and mouth, stating, 'We're not having any of this [expletive] here,'" the suit maintains.

The suit accuses Lopez of helping the officers by diverting another officer from providing assistance to Twan and Lauren Reynolds and stopping Leavitt and Hutchinson.

Leavitt has maintained that Twan Reynolds became violent during a routine traffic stop and had to be subdued.

"This was not Rodney King," he told the Gazette last week. This was an out-of-control suspect and his wife."

The suit, filed by Charleston attorneys Mike Clifford, Ed ReBrook and Martin Smith, seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages.