An Atlanta-area woman is suing a police officer after he used excessive force, busting down the door to her home and slamming her to the ground as her son watched in horror after she refused to give the officer a chess set that belonged to the former tenant.
Khanay Yancey filed a federal lawsuit against Clayton County and the Clayton County Police Officer identified as Gregory Tillman.
‘I was in total disbelief. I was just shocked once the door came crashing in and he [the officer] just grabbed me,’ Yancey said as she spoke about the unprovoked attack that took place at Independence Drive in Clayton County in 2019.
The officer had come to her home after Yancey said she refused to open the door after her friend’s ex-boyfriend showed up at her home claiming he had left some items there. He had called 911 to get them back.
‘I refused to let him in that home. I had children in that home,’ she said, 11Alive News reported. ‘He had been arrested on domestic violence against my friend.’
Disturbing bodycam footage shows the officer banging down the door, shouting and manhandling Yancey.
An image of the officer Tillman’s hand on Yancey’s arm during the unprovoked attack that happened inside her Atlanta home in 2019 where she was slammed down to the ground
Her son was home at the time of the attack and is heard on the bodycam video pleading with the officer: ‘Hey, sir. My mom got health problems, sir.’
Yancey, who had some previous health issues before the incident, now walks with a cane as a result of the injuries she sustained, during the violent encounter.
The video shows the officer kicking Yancey’s legs from under her forcing her to fall down onto the floor as he attempts to handcuff her.
‘You broke my door,’ Yancey is screaming as the officer is shouting back, ‘Put your hands behind your back.’
At one point during the chaotic incident, Yancey alleges that she had to contact the officer’s supervisor in order to calm the officer down.
Yancey’s attorney, Tanya Miller, said: ‘The only person who was armed and dangerous on that day was the officer,’ WSB-TV reported.
Yancey’s hand is pressing against the door in before the officer busted down the front door
Khanay Yancey is filing a federal lawsuit against Clayton County and the police officer identified as Gregory Tillman. ‘I’m still in shock it even went that far,’ Yancey said
The harrowing ordeal started when Clayton County officer Gregory Tillman showed up at Yancey’s Atlanta home at the request of a former resident, identified by Yancey as her friend’s ex-boyfriend, who had been arrested on domestic violence charges against her friend.
The man claimed that he wanted to get a remote control and chessboard he had left behind that was in Yancey’s home.
Yancey reportedly told the man that the items he was looking for weren’t in her home. She claimed the man had made threats to her the day prior to the incident, a report said.
During the 2019 incident, Officer Tillman claimed that he acted aggressively because he felt that his safety was at risk and that he feared for his life that day.
An oversight board agreed that Tillman did not act within policy.
It was first voted that Tillman get terminated, but then a vote was made to give the officer a three-day suspension with additional training, a report said.
Yancey’s attorney was unavailable when DailyMail.com reached out for comment.
However, Miller said that the officer ‘violated the Fourth Amendment and violated their policies,’ Yahoo News reported.
‘You cannot hire these officers as employees send them out in our communities to police and then when they do a terrible horrific job pretend that it is not your responsibility,’ 11Alive News reported Miller saying.
The charges against Yancey have been dropped.
Yancey hopes that the lawsuit with the county will be settled soon and that the county will ‘take accountability for their actions.’
She added: ‘I’m still in shock it even went that far.’