In a written response to the lawsuit filed by 47-year-old Tyrone Morrow Sr., lawyers representing the city denied many of Morrow’s claims, and said that “the stop and investigation of the Plaintiff were lawful and supported by probable cause and reasonable suspicion.”

The lawsuit also claims that the city, and officers involved in the incident, “are entitled to the defense of qualified immunity from liability from any and all claims made by the Plaintiff.”

Morrow, in his lawsuit, claims he was unlawfully stopped, detained and assaulted by as many as 12 city police officers on July 1, 2015, outside a tavern near East 10th and Parade streets. The suit claims that Morrow’s encounter with police left him with neck and spinal cord injuries that required surgery.

Morrow claims in the lawsuit that officers stopped him at a time when they were looking for another man who was suspected of being in possession of a handgun inside a nearby tavern. The lawsuit also alleges that Morrow was “unarmed and weaponless” and was simply walking in the area when he was stopped by officers, taken to the ground and injured.

In an interview with the Erie Times-News, Morrow said he is still recovering from injuries and that he had a history of neck surgery and cervical vertebrae injuries that he told officers about while he was being assaulted.

City police did not file charges against Morrow in relation to the traffic stop.

“I was assaulted by these police officers. I just feel I was violated, ” Morrow said.

In the city’s written response to the suit, filed Wednesday by Assistant City Solicitor Kenneth Zak, the city claims that Morrow, at the time of the July 1, 2015 incident, “was dressed in clothing similar to the clothing” police were told the man suspected of possessing a gun was wearing.

Zak also wrote that Morrow “was in the act of leaving the area of the tavern while it was being raided, was wearing a jacket that could have concealed a weapon, and reached into his pants for an object.”

The city’s response also claims that police officers did not “attack” Morrow.

“It is denied that there was any assault or excessive use of force requiring any intervention,” Zak wrote.

Morrow is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, according to the suit, and is asking for a jury trial. His lawsuit was filed in the wake of new city and U.S. Department of Justice investigations regarding the June 27 arrest of Erie’s Montrice Bolden, 41, who suffered several injuries, including facial fractures and a concussion, while being apprehended by officers outside an East 12th Street tavern.

Bolden was charged with 14 offenses following his encounter with police outside TJ’s Traffic Jam, 760 E. 12th St., including two felony counts of aggravated assault and one felony count of disarming a law enforcement officer for allegedly trying to grab an officer’s firearm.

Bolden’s arrest, captured on the tavern’s surveillance video, has renewed local conversations about police/citizen relations and raised concerns about excessive force by city officers.

The civil rights investigation by the Department of Justice is expected to examine both the actions of individual police officers during Bolden’s arrest as well as patterns and practices within the police bureau. That investigation could take several months.

City officials have said they are cooperating fully with the Department of Justice probe of Bolden’s arrest.

Kevin Flowers can be reached at 870-1693 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNflowers.