Former Philly cop testifies in stop-and-frisk lawsuit

A former Philadelphia police officer is testifying in his lawsuit against the city over injuries he said he suffered when he was stopped and frisked.

Herbert Spellman has “an ax to grind” against the police department after he was denied disability and workers’ compensation over an on-duty car accident, city attorneys said Monday.

A city attorney in opening statements Monday said that Spellman’s confrontational demeanor escalated the September 2013 stop.

The officers thought he had been talking to a known drug suspect, according to the city. Spellman said he was trying to find a bus stop after leaving his son’s school.

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Spellman’s lawsuit said the city’s stop-and-frisk policy often targets blacks and Latinos. Spellman is black while the two officers involved are white.

The stop aggravated his back and neck problems and left him emotionally wounded, Spellman claimed.

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