Man tries to pay ticket with pennies, gets choked by guard and defecates self: attorney

ROYAL OAK, Mich. (WJBK) - When Anthony Sevy got a parking ticket in Royal Oak, he wasn't pleased. When he went to pay his ticket with pennies, he was turned away, choked, and then defecated himself - his attorney claims.

"I don't think that in everyday course of business, we poop our pants or go around defecating ourselves," his attorney Jonathan Marco said.

Let's back up. Sevy went to pay his $10 parking ticket in Royal Oak's 44th District Court in February, but was told he'd have a $1.75 surcharge on his credit card. He wasn't happy and left.

His attorney says he came back to pay with rolls of pennies. He's on video with the court officers and his bag of pennies making what his attorney called a symbolic protest.

"He wasn't happy about it so, in symbolic protest, he brought back penny rolls to pay for his ticket. The clerk wasn't too happy about that, they refused to allow him to pay with penny rolls," Marco said.

The entire exchange was captured on surveillance video which Marco showed to FOX 2. In the video, which you can watch in the player above, you see Sevy and the court officer exchange words. Sevy was asked to leave but it didn't end there.

"As he was leaving the court house with his back to the officer, the court officer began to choke him out, grabbing him, brought him to the ground. Mr. Sevy passed out and defecated himself," Marco said.

Sevy was then arrested and tossed in jail.

Now he's suing the Royal Oak court officers.

"I don't think anyone paying in penny rolls, whether it's a preferred thing to do for a court clerk, warrants this type of this assaultive behavior and violation of constitutional rights," Marco said.

City attorney David Gillam says the city has yet to be served with the lawsuit but says he is aware of the case, which was investigated by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office. Sevy was charged with assaulting or obstructing a police officer and disturbing the peace.

His attorney says you can plainly see from the video that his client was the victim and suffered more than just physical injuries. 

"I think the more profound and long-lasting injury is the psychological injuries he's suffering as a result of this. He's supposed to be in a safe place," he said.

Sevy pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace and the assault/obstruction charge was dropped.