A 20-year-old Ohio man who spent 141 days in jail after being accused of participating in a mass shooting is suing authorities, alleging police withheld evidence identifying another potential suspect while he remained behind bars.
Eljay Crisp-Carr and his mother, April Carr, filed a $20 million federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Toledo, Lucas County, police and prosecutors on November 3, WTOL reported.
The lawsuit alleges that investigators received two Crime Stoppers tips identifying another potential suspect on June 11, the same day Crisp-Carr was arrested in connection with a mass shooting at the Old West End Festival.
One tip included the person's booking photo with the caption, "This is him." However, investigators allegedly failed to disclose the information to the court or grand jury.
Crisp-Carr has maintained that he was not at the festival when 12 people were shot on June 6.
According to WTOL, the complaint cites cellphone records and witness accounts that allegedly placed him two and a half blocks away, beside his pickup truck, which had run out of gas.
The lawsuit also claims investigators were told on September 2 that the alternative suspect had admitted to being the shooter.
13ABC reported that Crisp-Carr's attorneys further challenged the identification evidence, arguing that police identified him as a gunman despite surveillance footage never showing the shooter's face.
Prosecutors dismissed more than 50 charges against Crisp-Carr on October 30. Four days earlier, they had amended their theory of the case, alleging he supplied a firearm to an unidentified shooter rather than being the gunman, according to WTOL.
Crisp-Carr and his mother are seeking $10 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages. They are also asking the court to destroy his arrest records and remove his DNA from state and national databases.
WTOL reported that the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office declined to comment on the pending lawsuit.
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