On the morning of Jan. 31, 2024, Wesley Eggleston II, a 42-year-old Black small-business owner in Parkesburg, Pennsylvania, was parked outside of a client’s home when he was attacked by four white officers.

​According to the federal lawsuit filed on Jan. 16 and shared by Atlanta Black Star, Eggleston says he was waiting to drive his healthcare worker client to a medical appointment when the nightmare unfolded.

​“Two of the officers came towards his vehicle and stared at him, appearing hostile and aggressive to him,” states the claim. “As the officers continued to stare at Eggleston, he rolled down his window to ask whether there was a problem and immediately one of the officers asked him for his name and he calmly responded, ‘My name is Wesley.’”

​The lawsuit claims the officers then opened his car door without his consent and yanked him from his vehicle.

​One officer allegedly aimed a firearm directly at Eggleston’s chest as another jumped on his neck and began choking him, the complaint states. The officers forced him onto the pavement, tasered him in the lower back, and just as his body began to lock up, they punched him in the mouth while he was handcuffed. An officer allegedly drove a knee into his neck so hard that he could not breathe, and scraped his face against the cement.

However, it was a brutal and reckless case of mistaken identity. Only after the beating did police ask for his identification, and realizing their massive mistake, officers removed the handcuffs, the suit says.

A supervisor was called to the scene. Though instead of owning the mistake — and allegedly at the encouragement of their supervisor — the officers doubled down and claimed Eggleston tried to flee. This was despite his client confirming he was exactly at their routine pick-up spot.

The lawsuit accuses the Pennsylvania State Police and Parkesburg Police Department of excessive force, unlawful seizure, failure to intervene, civil conspiracy, and an ongoing pattern of covering for abusive officers instead of disciplining them.

“Despite repeated incidents/complaints of excessive use of force committed by PSP troopers and Parkesburg Police Officers, regardless of the instrument of force utilized, no significant efforts were made to establish or ensure actual proper use of force standards were promulgated, disseminated and enforced,” says the claim filed by Pennsylvania attorneys Robert E. Goldman and Gerald P. Egan.

Eggleston is seeking at least $150,000 in damages, saying he lost income and now lives with physical pain, PTSD, humiliation, and lasting emotional trauma.