Maverick Lyon, 21, has filed a lawsuit against the Albany Police Department after officers shot him five times and tased him while he was escaping a hostage situation at his family’s Oregon home.
The St. Anselm’s College athlete spent four weeks in the hospital and underwent multiple surgeries after being wounded in his chest, back, and face during the Jan. 6 confrontation in North Albany, his lawyer, Alicia LeDuc Montgomery, told the Oregonian. The injuries forced him to miss his spring semester and his senior lacrosse season, though he has since returned to play.
Maverick had been home visiting from New Hampshire when his brother, Dakota Lyon, who had recently been released from prison and was struggling with drug addiction, held him at knifepoint in the family’s kitchen. The brothers had eaten breakfast together roughly thirty minutes before Dakota became “delusional and nonsensical” during a phone call with their father, grabbed a kitchen knife, and began calling Maverick a hostage while ranting that their father and others were trying to kill him, according to the lawsuit.
David Lyon, the brothers’ father, tried calling Dakota back but got no answer. He then reviewed his home security footage, saw Dakota pointing a knife at Maverick, and frantically called 911, telling the dispatcher that Dakota was shirtless and wearing pajama pants. “I called the police that day because I wanted to protect Maverick, and instead, the very people I called for help ended up nearly taking his life,” David told KOIN.
Three officers arrived and observed two men inside the house — one shirtless in pajama bottoms and another in a gray long-sleeve shirt. One officer radioed that he could see a man with a knife. Maverick spotted an officer through the back door window and repeatedly mouthed “Help me!” but received no response, the lawsuit alleges. Dakota, still shirtless and armed, allegedly yelled to police that the two were “in a bad situation, a brotherly situation.”
An officer ordered them to step outside. Maverick decided to run for the back door, opening it and dropping the knife on the patio as an officer continued yelling at him to drop it. The officer fired two shots, forcing Maverick to the ground, then continued firing as he curled into the fetal position, according to the suit. One officer even called Maverick by name while telling him to get on his stomach.
Graphic video shows Maverick keeled over and bleeding in the backyard, moaning, “You guys got the wrong guy — he was holding me hostage.” Officers then rolled him over and placed him in handcuffs. Medics who arrived made police remove the handcuffs so they could treat his life-threatening wounds. Meanwhile, Dakota allegedly stood in the doorway still holding a knife. He was eventually taken into custody and is now serving six years in prison after being convicted in June of unlawful use of a weapon, coercion, and attempt to commit a felony.
“Maverick came outside in response to the officers’ commands, dropped the knife, and was shot after he was unarmed,” David Lyon said. “As a father, it is heartbreaking to know that my call for help ended with my son suffering multiple gunshot wounds.”
The day before the shooting, David and his wife had contacted Benton County officials to report that Dakota was using drugs again. A probation officer visited the home and spoke with Dakota but did not take him into custody, according to the lawsuit. Dakota had been staying with the family while they helped him get back on his feet during his post-prison supervision after serving time for a prior assault and weapons conviction.
LeDuc Montgomery said the case shows the “devastating consequences when law enforcement fails to distinguish someone asking for help from someone posing a threat.”
The Benton County District Attorney ultimately ruled the shooting justified, though acknowledging it was “tragic.” Ryan S. Joslin, the county district attorney, said in a statement that “in this case, the officers, in real time, had only fractions of a second to decide how to act.” He found the officers’ decision to fire was based on “an objectively reasonable belief” that it was necessary to protect themselves or fellow officers.
Maverick’s lawsuit accuses the Albany Police Department of negligence and using excessive force.