BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — BoiseDev reports that former Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee is suing a BPD sergeant and several other unnamed people for what he says was a campaign to remove him as police chief and ruin his career.
BPD Sergeant Kirk Rush filed a lawsuit against the City of Boise and against former Chief Lee personally for injuries to his neck he received while Lee demonstrated a restraint hold on him in a briefing in front of other officers. Rush's suit says Lee intentionally tried to "physically dominate" him after he disagreed with the Chief's proposed changes to the K-9 unit.
Lee is seeking $1 million in damages for what he claims was false information that was spread about him and internal complaints filed against him by multiple officers in the BPD in an effort to remove him as police chief and further damage his career in law enforcement. The growing list of complaints and mountain public pressure led Mayor Lauren McLean to ask for his resignation last fall.
BoiseDev reports that the filing by Lee states that Rush repeatedly stated and implied publicly that Lee "willfully, intentionally, and maliciously accosted and injured him," broke his neck, and inflicted severe emotional distress and caused him to have surgery due to the incident.
Lee's suit says that these statements were made publicly and repeatedly in an effort to undermine him as chief and to intentionally damage his career.
This marks the latest in a string of lawsuits that have been filed by BPD personnel, both current and former. The former Director of Police Accountability Jesus Jara, filed a lawsuit against the City of Boise for wrongful termination.
Former BPD Captain Matt Bryngelson who was the cause of an expensive and lengthy investigation into racism in the Boise Police Department after he was found to have been a speaker at a white nationalist conference, filed human rights violations complaints and a lawsuit against the City of Boise and former Chief Lee. Bryngelson's complaint says he "became despondent and suicidal as a result of the harassment and workplace hostility from Chief Ryan Lee," and he was "diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety, which impaired 'major life activities including caring for himself, sleeping, communicating, and working."
CBS2 will continue to monitor and update the numerous lawsuits at play against the city and BPD personnel.
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