TOLEDO, Ohio — A Toledo woman has filed a federal lawsuit saying she was dragged from her home and had her arm broken when police came to her home in 2022 to check on her well being.
Gloria Sauerwein filed the lawsuit in federal court in May, naming the city of Toledo, Toledo Police Department and nine police officers as defendants. Sauerwein has accused the city and the officers of police brutality and violating her Civil Rights.
The case stems from a May 29, 2022, incident that began when Sauerwein's father asked police to go to her North Holland Sylvania Road home to check on her safety.
The woman told officers that she was OK and asked them to leave, saying they had no right to be on her property, according to the lawsuit.
The woman claims officers then dragged her from her home, attempting to arrest her because she had a bench warrant from Toledo Municipal Court, according to the filing.
According to the lawsuit, an officer hyper extended the woman's elbow while dragging her, making it impossible for her to get her arms behind her back to be handcuffed. The unidentified officer let go of the woman but then hit her left arm so forcefully that her arm was broken, according to the lawsuit.
The sound of the woman's arm breaking was loud enough that it can be heard on the officer's body-camera video.
The woman also accused the officers of handcuffing her despite her broken arm and letting her sit screaming in pain for more than 10 minutes, according to the lawsuit. When the woman arrived at a hospital for treatment, medical workers had to administer two shots of morphine and one dose of fentanyl to manage the pain from her injury, the lawsuit says.
Sauerwein says the injury continues to cause her pain and may result in a permanent disability.
She asked the court to award her at least $30 million in damages.
WTOL 11 reached out to the city for comment on the case.
"We do not comment on pending litigation," Karlene Henderson, senior attorney with the city's law department said.
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