Woman files excessive force lawsuit against Moorhead Police Officer

MOORHEAD, M.N. (Valley News Live) - A woman has filed an excessive force lawsuit against the Moorhead Police officer who struck her in the face in a Fargo hospital room in Sept. 2018.

Jennifer Joan Thomas filed the lawsuit in late April and, in a 32-page document, she claims Officer Matthew Lambert injured her and violated her civil rights. Thomas is seeking $500,000 in damages.

Thomas was left with a nasal bone fracture, contusions, lacerations and other injuries after being arrested on Sept. 9, 2018.

Moorhead Police were called that day to a suicidal woman with a handgun at Buffalo Wild Wings, who was also telling people they should leave the building.

2018 court document say Fargo Police were called to Sanford Hospital later that evening. Officer Lambert told Fargo officers that he brought Thomas to the hospital for ‘clearances purposes.’ He says Thomas stood up from her hospital bed and when he tried to get Thomas to sit back down, she spit on Lambert’s face.

Lambert went on to tell officers that he then tackled Thomas, and said he thought Thomas struck her face on part of the bed when he tackled her. Officers noticed injuries on Thomas’ face and took photos of them.

However, after further investigations, 2018 documents state detectives found that it was actually Lambert who struck Thomas with his elbow when she was handcuffed.

Thomas’ lawsuit states hospital surveillance video shows Lambert grabbing Thomas by the neck with both hands and pushing her back on the table.

“Lambert then shoved the still-handcuffed Jen backwards onto the exam table, lifted her legs, and threw them onto the table,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit goes on to say Lambert leaned forward and punched Thomas in the face with his forearm and elbow. The force of the impact from Lambert’s punch snapped Thomas’ head backward and Lambert landed on top of her with all of his body weight, the complaint says.

A nurse later testified that she was ‘shocked’ by Lambert’s conduct and called for security because she was concerned she would not be able to get ‘the angry Lambert off of Jen.’

A hospital security guard, who watched the attack unfold from just outside Thomas’ room, explained that he had ‘never seen any violence like that from an officer to a patient’ and that he was “greatly upset” by it, the complaint stated.

A nurse stated they had concerns Thomas would die when Lambert stayed on top of her for about a minute while she was left on her stomach Thomas’ responsiveness diminished, her breathing slowed and gurgling noises increased, the lawsuit states.

Thomas was charged in Clay County Court with assault, threats of violence and carrying a BB gun, but she was later acquitted due to her mental illness. Court documents say Thomas has ‘long struggled with mental-health problems,’ and state she suffers from bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and mood disorder, as well as depression and anxiety.

Charges of aggravated assault were later filed against Lambert in Cass County, but were dropped in June 2019 after his actions were deemed ‘objectively reasonable.’

In a 15-page response filed in late May, Lambert denies the allegations of wrongdoing.

The response states Lambert did not deprive Thomas of her civil rights but acted “with a good faith belief his conduct was lawful, constitutional, proper and pursuant to probable cause.”

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