ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. — A lawsuit brought against the St. Augustine Beach Police Department, a St. Augustine officer and the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office claims that officers deprived a man of his constitutional rights during a 2022 arrest.
Paul Viollis Jr. says he was wrongfully arrested and officers used excessive force on him. He is also claiming denial to medical treatment. Viollis is seeking a jury trial to determine if officers are guilty of these accusations.
Viollis was accused of DUI and having a firearm in his car, which he denies. He eventually pleaded guilty to reckless driving, not alcohol related, and completed a 12-hour Advanced Driving Improvement class.
The suit claims that in Feb. 2022, Viollis was leaving a Publix on A1A when he pulled up to a stop sign, stopped and parked his car, and got out to retrieve a Gatorade from his trunk. Officer Jerry Baker approached him and told him he couldn't exit his vehicle in a travel lane. Viollis reportedly told Baker he understood and drove away.
According to the lawsuit, Baker followed Viollis after this incident and pulled him over, accusing him of driving recklessly. He then demanded he exit his vehicle, saying he smelled marijuana in the car. Viollis told Baker he had not been smoking but did have a medical card, which he says he presented.
Baker called for three back up officers; two St. Augustine officers and one sheriff's deputy arrived.
This is when Viollis says he was "ripped" from the vehicle. The lawsuit details medical conditions that Viollis has been experiencing since 2011. He says he told officers about prior surgeries and injuries and was screaming in pain, when Baker "threw him" against his car. During an aggressive search, Viollis is alleging Baker "grabbed and yanked" his groin area, despite multiple warnings that he had prior injuries that made the area painful.
The lawsuit then alleges that Viollis was mistreated when he was taken to the Sheriff's Office DUI Testing Center and was held there for hours. The document describes Viollis being left in "unbearable" pain from his medical conditions and not allowed to use the bathroom, to the point he "ultimately defecated and urinated slightly on himself." Viollis did submit to a breathalyzer during this experience and claims he "blew triple zeros."
The lawsuit also claims that when he was eventually allowed to go to the bathroom, Baker denied Viollis water to drink or wash his hands and told him to "use the toilet water."
Viollis alleges that Baker also removed medical socks that he wears to keep his ankles and feet from swelling. When he was booked in jail, "due to the swelling in his groin, and now ankles and feet, Viollis struggled to walk up the stairs to general population." Viollis says that he was under medical distress when he returned home due to his ordeal.
First Coast News has requested the body camera footage associated with this incident, as well as requested comment from both police departments mentioned in this lawsuit.
