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Man loses eye in alleged beating by Clinton Township officer, sues claiming excessive force

By and David Komer online producer
Published  March 10, 2023 12:10am EST
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 2 Detroit

Man claims Clinton Township police used excessive force

The incident took place in April of 2021. Attorney Jon Marko says someone called police to report two suspicious people cutting through a back yard. Only he says his client had nothing to do with it.

FOX 2 (WJBK) - Daniel Reiff suffered the loss of an eye after an alleged brutal beating by a police officer. Now he and his attorney are demanding justice.

Body camera footage shows what becomes an intense struggle between a Clinton Township police officer and Reiff.

Officer: "I’m going to taze you, dude."

Reiff: "Yeah baby, whooo."

That footage is now the subject of a lawsuit alleging unwarranted excessive force.

Officer: "Get on your stomach now. Get on your F-ing stomach now."

"Daniel had done nothing wrong whatsoever," said attorney Jonathan Marko, whose firm is filing the suit. "He literally had gotten off the bus and was walking to his friend’s house when he was suddenly stopped by a police officer with Clinton Township."

Marko says the officer punched Daniel in the face, causing a bone fracture in two places. He says Daniel was unarmed.

"He’s blind now for the rest of his life," Marko said. "He has a glass eye. He has permanent vision loss in that eye. They had to take his eyeball out."

"Please God help me up. Please, please I can’t breathe," Reiff can be heard on video.

The incident took place in April of 2021. Marko says someone called police to report two suspicious people cutting through a backyard. Only he says his client had nothing to do with it.

"So the police were looking for these two guys who had cut through a backyard," Marko said. "Daniel, one guy, did not cut through a backyard. He was simply getting off a bus and going to his friend’s house."

The video does show Reiff running from Police. Marko says there good reason for that.

"He becomes scared, he doesn’t know what’s going on," Marko said. "He doesn’t know why he’s suddenly being stopped and asked to come over here. He becomes frightened and he runs."

Marko says Reiff will never be the same.

"I guess I call it a case of mistaken identity of an innocent person has changed and impaired his life forever," he said.

Clinton Township police have not responded yet to a request for comment.