A civil rights lawsuit filed against an Oklahoma police chief and two state investigators is part of a nearly six-year legal fight with a police lieutenant who was twice fired amid excessive force allegations.
The Tulsa World reports Owasso Lt. Mike Denton was fired in 2011 and in 2015 for using excessive force with suspects. He was reinstated in both instances.
The lawsuit filed alleges Owasso and the city's police chief retaliated against Denton for his "public employee union activities," when requesting an Oklahoma State Bureau criminal investigation. The suit also claims two of the bureau's agent's deliberately withheld evidence in order to support their filing of criminal charges.
A bureau spokeswoman declined to comment to the newspaper on the pending case.
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