KSP trooper indicted on excess force charges facing lawsuit for tasing unarmed man multiple times
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - A trooper with Kentucky State Police who was indicted for allegedly violating civil rights is now facing a federal lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed Monday, June 16, claims Trooper James Cameron Wright used excessive force during a traffic incident on June 19, 2024, and violated Dawson Blevins’ constitutional rights. Wright pulled over Blevins and his co-worker, the driver, on their way to work at a construction site in Hardin County.
The lawsuit says Wright pulled them over since the driver wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, but was more interested in Blevins than the driver, since he believed he recognized Blevins from a previous encounter.
“To me, I wasn’t even in the picture because I had my seatbelt on,” Blevins said. “I wasn’t breaking no laws. His only issue should have been with the driver. I didn’t want to be in that situation.”
According to the lawsuit, the driver told Wright there could possibly be a roach in his car since he used to smoke weed in there, but no longer did so. The driver told Wright that he had nothing to hide. Wright then told Blevins he needed to get out of the car, so he could search it for a ‘roach,’ a marijuana cigarette.
**excerpt**
Call a K-9 unit. Any roaches or year-old french fries will be found in a jiffy.
Yeah, it appears that police department has a problem.
“In police body camera footage, once Blevins does get out of the car, immediately, Wright tries to put Blevins’ hands behind his back and tells him to drop the phone, wallet, and cigarettes in his hands. When Blevins answers back that he’s video-taping this, the video appears to show Wright push him down and tell him he’s under arrest.
Blevins asks what he’s under arrest for while standing back up, only to be tased by Wright and fall back to the ground.
Wright tells Blevins to lie on his belly, and Blevins says he is. Blevins was then tased again by Wright.
Wright told Belvins to put his hands behind his back before tasing him again. Blevins told him he couldn’t put his hands behind his back while his body appeared to be twitching. Blevins was then tased again. As Blevins continued telling Wright that he was unable to put his hands behind his back, Wright walked up to Blevins and pepper-sprayed him in his eyes.”
[snip]
According to the lawsuit, Blevins ended up with two compression fractures to his thoracic spine. It also says Blevins was charged with multiple crimes, but all charges were dismissed on June 5, 2025.
It only took a year to drop the charges on an obviously innocent man.