Second SC Man Whose 2021 Viral Video Arrest Led to Rock Hill Protests Sues City, Police

Ricky Price Files Lawsuits Against Rock Hill City, Police

A Rock Hill man whose con­tro­ver­sial arrest in 2021 sparked three days of protests has filed two law­suits against the city and its police department. 

Ricky Rod­er­ick Price, the sec­ond Price broth­er to sue fol­low­ing the June 23, 2021 inci­dent, alleges that his fed­er­al civ­il rights were vio­lat­ed dur­ing a mali­cious prosecution. 

Price Alleges Malicious Prosecution, Civil Rights Violations

Ricky Price’s fed­er­al suit, filed in U.S. Dis­trict Court, names the city and police offi­cers as defen­dants. The South Car­oli­na suit, filed in York Coun­ty civ­il court against the police depart­ment, also claims mali­cious pros­e­cu­tion under state law.

Price Spent Four Months in Jail, Despite Charges Being Dropped

In the 2021 inci­dent, Rock Hill police arrest­ed Ricky Price on drug and weapon charges after a traf­fic stop. Although he was not con­vict­ed of any crime, Price spent four months in jail fol­low­ing the arrest.

York Coun­ty pros­e­cu­tors dis­missed charges against him in late 2023.

Price’s Lawyer Claims Unconstitutional Arrest, Police Escalation

Price’s lawyer, Monier Abusaft of Spar­tan­burg, argues that the arrest was uncon­sti­tu­tion­al and that police esca­lat­ed the inci­dent when Price was try­ing to com­ply. Abusaft claims that offi­cers “attacked him” and “act­ed beyond the pale.”

Viral Video of Arrest Sparked Protests

Video footage from the arrests shows police fight­ing with Ricky Price after an offi­cer took his broth­er, Travis Price, to the ground in a con­ve­nience store park­ing lot. Travis Price had gone to the lot to retrieve per­son­al items from his broth­er who was in custody.

Price Suffered Physical and Emotional Injuries

Ricky Price suf­fered a bro­ken nose and oth­er phys­i­cal and emo­tion­al injuries dur­ing the inci­dent. The law­suits also allege that police released a K‑9 dog that attacked him.

Incident Came Amid National Calls for Police Accountability

The Price broth­ers are African-Amer­i­can, and the inci­dent occurred a year after George Floyd died in Min­neso­ta at the hands of police. 

Protests across the coun­try, includ­ing in Rock Hill, demand­ed police account­abil­i­ty, par­tic­u­lar­ly regard­ing inter­ac­tions with Black Americans.

Lawsuits Seek Monetary Damages

The law­suits are seek­ing mon­e­tary dam­ages and com­pen­sa­tion for pain and suf­fer­ing from alleged phys­i­cal and emo­tion­al dis­tress and anguish.

The defen­dants have sev­er­al weeks to respond to the law­suits in court fil­ings, and no tri­al dates have been set.