Second SC man whose 2021 viral video arrest led to Rock Hill protests sues city, police
A Rock Hill man whose controversial arrest in 2021 sparked three days of protests has filed two lawsuits against the city and its police department.
Ricky Roderick Price is the second Price brother to sue after he and Travis Price were arrested on June 23, 2021. Charges against Travis Price were dropped two weeks after the arrest, and he settled a separate lawsuit in late 2023 after the city paid $500,000.
Ricky Price's federal suit filed in U.S. District Court names the city and police officers as defendants. It alleges Price's federal civil rights were violated in a malicious prosecution. The South Carolina suit filed in York County civil court against the police department also claims malicious prosecution — but under state law.
In the 2021 incident, Rock Hill police arrested Ricky Price on drug and weapon charges after a traffic stop. He was not convicted of any crime but spent four months in jail after he was arrested. York County prosecutors dismissed charges against Ricky Price in late 2023, according to court records.
Price's lawyer, Monier Abusaft of Spartanburg, re-filed the lawsuits last week in both federal court and state courts after first filing them in June.
Abusaft told The Herald in a phone interview the arrest was unconstitutional and police escalated the incident when Price was trying to comply.
"Police acted beyond the pale that day," Abusaft said. "Officers attacked him."
Video from the arrests showed police fighting with Ricky Price after an officer took Travis Price to the ground in a convenience store parking lot on Willowbrook Avenue. Travis Price only went to the convenience store lot to get personal items from his brother who was in custody.
Ricky Price suffered a broken nose and other physical and emotional injuries, the lawsuits state. Police also released a K-9 dog that attacked him, according to the lawsuits.
The Price brothers are African-American, and the incident came a year after George Floyd died in Minnesota at the hands of police. There were protests around the country in 2020, including in Rock Hill, demanding police accountability — especially concerning police interactions with Black American.
Viral video of arrests led to protests
A bystander's video posted online the same day of the arrests in 2021 went viral.
Protesters filled Rock Hill's downtown for three days demanding accountability over police tactics. Rock Hill police donned riot gear for some of the confrontations, and the protests made national headlines.
After a public outcry, Rock Hill police and York County prosecutors released body camera videos of Ricky Price's arrest two weeks later at a news conference.
Rock Hill city officials declined to comment to The Herald on Ricky Price's lawsuits, saying in a statement the city does not comment on pending legal matters.
What's next
The lawsuits are asking for monetary damages and pain and suffering from alleged physical and emotional distress and anguish.
The defendants have several weeks to respond to the lawsuits in court filings.
No trial dates have been set in either federal court or state court.
