A man has filed suit against the city and county of San Francisco claiming they wrongly arrested him and then allegedly mistreated him, after he was allegedly run over while on the sidewalk by a taxi driver who allegedly falsely accused the man of pepper spraying the driver in an argument over the fare.
Jeremy Haley was a passenger in cab on Dec. 22, 2022, when he had a disagreement with the driver over the fare, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Haley left the taxi and the cab driver allegedly "drove his vehicle forward, proceeded to complete a U-turn, and
drove his taxicab directly onto the sidewalk, where he ran down Mr. Haley, a pedestrian, who was completely on the sidewalk," the lawsuit states. The cab driver then drove away, but was later arrested and charged with aggravated assault, the suit said.
The cab driver later filed a police report, accusing Haley of attacking him with pepper spray. Haley was arrested on Feb. 17 and was still walking with a cane from his injuries in the incident with the cab driver, the lawsuit states.
The city and county "deliberately chose to ignore the reports of the officers who responded to the subject event, the multiple eyewitnesses to the subject event, and video footage of the subject event, all in complete and total disregard of plaintiff Jeremy Haley's rights as a victim of a violent crime," the lawsuit states. "Jeremy Haley therefore, was arrested without any probable cause."
Haley seeks compensatory and punitive damages, plus attorney fees.
He is represented by Gregory J. Brod, of Brod Law Firm, of Petaluma.
Haley v. City and County of San Francisco, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, 3:23-cv-06123.