Man sues for severe burns after officers pinned him down on hot pavement

PHOENIX (KPHO/Gray News) — A lawsuit filed by a man in Arizona claims he suffered severe burns when he was held down and restrained on the pavement by police officers.

The four Phoenix Police officers involved were cleared by the police review board.

Since the incident happened, a new policy has been created to account for the heat.

However, the victim, Michael Kenyon, and his attorney, Steve Benedetto, claim the new policy is not enough. They filed a notice of claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, in December 2024.

Benedetto claims the asphalt was about 180-200 degrees the day Kenyon was arrested on July 6, 2024. He was pinned down on the pavement for about four minutes. Kenyon then spent 30 days at a burn center for his injuries.

“This is a young man who’s gonna have scars until the day he dies,” Benedetto said. “This isn’t a situation where we had a combative, violent felon who’s putting officers in danger.”

The lawsuit claims the city of Phoenix and the police department knew that burns during arrests were a problem because they had happened in the past, but that they failed to change policies to prevent them.

“This isn’t the first time this has happened,” Benedetto said.

Benedetto also claims that, because it is a pattern, it violates Fourth Amendment rights, which include unreasonable seizure through excessive force.

“Michael was screaming out in pain as anybody would if they were being cooked,” Benedetto said.

Documents show officers thought Kenyon stole his roommate’s laptop, although he did not match the description of the suspect and was not the thief.

The arrest was caught on surveillance video.

A spokesperson for the police department said the case was examined by the city’s Critical Incident Review Board, and the officers were cleared, claiming that the “actions of the officers were within policy as written at the time. A new policy requires police to be reasonably attentive to environmental conditions, extreme temperatures, and surface heat when placing a person on the ground, against vehicles, and other surfaces.”

Police practices and procedures expert witness Karen Laser-Garrett said officers might have to get creative with how to perform arrests to stay within the new policy.

“They could lay a tarp or a blanket or a towel or something down and they can dictate where. That would be reasonable,” she said.

Laser-Garrett said the goal is for officers to avoid creating injuries.

“That’s not necessary, and that’s not their job,” she said.

For Benedetto, he said there has been virtually no internal accountability for the injuries and harm caused to Kenyon by the officers and that it is too little, too late.

The lawsuit also points to the fact that in 2016, the Phoenix City Council created an ordinance banning pet owners from walking their dogs on city trails when it’s above 100 degrees to prevent burns on paws. Benedetto claims that the ordinance points to the fact that the city knew contact burns were an issue and failed to protect detainees.

Temperatures above 160 degrees are known to cause third-degree burns after just a few minutes of contact. On a hot day, asphalt can easily reach 40-60 degrees hotter than the air.