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... The incident began on the evening of Feb. 13, 2013, when Meister arranged to get some things his ex-roommate was holding for him on his back porch. Someone saw Meister hauling items, thought it looked suspicious, and called police.Officers met Meister on the sidewalk, where he “tried to tell them that he was deaf, using gestures to explain that he was there to pick up his stuff, but it didn’t seem like they understood,” Meister’s attorney Anna Rivera said.The situation deteriorated from there.Police put Meister in handcuffs and officers say he began struggling.“If the primary way you communicate is to use your hands, and you’re looking at somebody when you speak, when you go to grab somebody without explaining what’s happening and take that method of communication away from them, Mr. Meister became afraid,” Rivera said.The suit claims the officers’ response was excessive. The suit alleges police used a stun gun to bring him to the ground and beat him.He was arrested and taken to the Hawthorne police station, where he communicated in writing.Police initially charged Meister with assaulting officers but those charges were eventually dropped.Hawthorne police provided a copy of the police report showing they recognized Meister was deaf early on and that he tried to resist.
