Hollywood Man Wants Bodycam Footage Released From 2019 Arrest

HOLLYWOOD, CA —A Black Hollywood man who sued the city of Los Angeles alleging racial profiling and mistaken identity in a 2019 arrest now wants police to release body camera footage of the incident to the public, his lawyer said.

Antone Austin sued the city in 2020 in connection with an arrest on May 24, 2019, in front of his Fountain Avenue home. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from the city and 10 unnamed officers for excessive force and civil rights violations in the arrest of Austin and his girlfriend, Michelle Michlewicz.

Faisal Gill, the couple’s attorney, plans to argue before a judge on March 30 for the release of body camera footage of the incident, which has been sealed under a protective order. It will show that Austin acted calmly throughout the incident and that officers were the aggressors, he said.

The Los Angeles Police Department declined to comment, saying it does not comment on ongoing court cases.

The Los Angeles City Attorney's office said in a court filing that the lawsuit was without merit and should be dismissed.

Austin was putting away his trash cans in front of his home when officers with the LAPD’s Hollywood Division placed him under arrest without warning, the lawsuit alleged. A neighbor had called 911 earlier to report that an ex-boyfriend was harassing her.

Austin tried to explain to the officers he had nothing to do with the call, but "police then began applying excessive force ... in attempts to restrain him despite [his] actions of compliance,” the suit alleged.

The neighbor who called 911 told officers they had the wrong guy, and Michlewicz also came out to the scene to ask officers to release him. The lawsuit said Michelwicz was pushed after she placed her hand on an officer, asking him to stop the arrest.

Both Austin and Michlewicz were then placed under arrest. They were released the following day.

The City Attorney's office in a court filing blamed the couple for the incident and argued that the officers were immune from prosecution.

Gill said his clients shouldn’t have been arrested because the woman who called 911 didn’t give a description of her ex-boyfriend or provide an address. He said Austin was targeted because he was Black.

“[The police] never went up to him to talk about the call or asked questions,” Gill said. “They got out of the car in a very aggressive manner, ran toward my guy and arrested him.”

He added that formal charges against Austin and Michlewicz have been pending for the last two years, and he hasn't received a reason why from authorities.

Jasmyne Cannick, an associate of Austin and Michlewicz, shared a copy of the 911 call online. In it a woman can be heard telling an operator that her ex-boyfriend was down the street from her, telling the operator that he was next to a Fat Sal's sandwich shop rather than providing an exact address. The call ends with the woman telling the operator she was going directly to a police station.

Police eventually found the ex-boyfriend, who ended up being white and shorter than Austin, according to Gill.