Joseph Williams v. City of Sparks

facts in the light depicted in a video recording, they raise a question of law over which the appellate court has jurisdiction. The panel next determined that the video evidence clearly contradicted plaintiff’s claim that he was not attempting to accelerate once police officers blocked his truck with their police cars. Given the video evidence, the officers were entitled to qualified immunity on the excessive force claim because their actions were objectively reasonable. As in Plumhoff v. Rickard, 572 U.S. 765 (2014), plaintiff posed a threat to the officers on the scene and the public at large. Plaintiff led officers on a chase that lasted forty-two minutes and reached speeds of around 70 miles per hour. During the chase, he ran several red lights, weaved between lanes, drove through a chain-link fence, drove in the wrong direction on the freeway, albeit briefly, and had, for a significant portion of the chase, his lights off and a blown

* This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader.

WILLIAMS V. CITY OF SPARKS

tire. By the time his truck was pinned, he had struck three…