A controversial Melvindale police lieutenant was accused in a civil lawsuit Tuesday of assault and battery and false arrest.

The allegations stem from a July 2024 traffic stop where the suspect, Drakkar Williams, recently saw most of the criminal charges against him dismissed.

Williams was stopped by Melvindale Lieutenant Matthew Furman on July 20

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after driving around traffic barricades. Williams, it would later be determined, was driving on a revoked drivers license.

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After being asked multiple times to step out of his vehicle, Williams would be repeatedly drive stunned by Furman and, later, alleged that the lieutenant grabbed his hair while he was handcuffed and struck his head into the back of a fire truck.

Last week, charges of resisting arrest, interfering with police, providing false information to a police officer and others lodged against Williams were dismissed.

Williams entered a plea of guilty to driving without insurance and on a revoked license and was found responsible for driving with tinted windows.

Tuesday in Wayne County Circuit Court, Williams filed a lawsuit against Furman, another lieutenant on the scene that day and the Melvindale Police Department, alleging gross negligence, assault and battery, false arrest and more.

Last week, a 7 News Detroit investigation revealed the litany of allegations made against Furman throughout his career by citizens and fellow officers.

Furman denied wrongdoing in each case, saying his proactive policing strategy makes him an easy target.

For the last several months, Furmans actions during the Williams arrest have been the subject of a Michigan State Police investigation that remains ongoing.

Furman did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.

The owner of a troubled New Baltimore psychiatric hospital at the center of years of reporting from 7 News Detroit has agreed pay nearly $20 million to settle claims of fraud and abuse.

Since 2017, investigative reports by 7 News Detroit have revealed repeated cases of physical and sexual abuse among patients and staff inside Harbor Oaks Hospital.

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Last week, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced a civil settlement agreement with Acadia, the owner of Harbor Oaks Hospital and others across the country, to settle claims that about a dozen of the company's hospitals submitted false claims to government healthcare programs.

The almost $20 million will be paid to the states of Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and Nevada, and the federal government, Nessel's office said, with more than $6 million of which will go to Medicaid programs.

Michigan will receive $412,504.84 in Medicaid restitution and other recoveries, according to a press release.

Medicare and Medicaid are essential programs that exist to assist those who need help securing health care, Nessel said. When these systems are exploited, my Department will work with the federal government and other attorneys general to protect taxpayers and the integrity of these health care programs.

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According to an announcement from Nessels office, the allegations against each of Acadia facilities include:

Admitting patients to the facility who were not eligible for inpatient treatment; Failing to discharge patients who no longer needed inpatient care; Excessive lengths of inpatient stays; Inadequate staffing and insufficient staff training and supervision, resulting in assaults, elopements, suicides, and other patient harm; and Failing to provide inpatient care per federal and state regulations, such as failing to develop individual treatment plans, failing to provide active treatment, including individual and group therapy, and failing to provide adequate discharge planning.  

The settlement stems from allegations made in 2017 inside Harbor Oaks, Nessels office said, the same year 7 News Detroit began airing more than a dozen reports looking into abuse, staffing challenges and alleged criminal behavior happening inside the hospital that treats some of Michigans most vulnerable psychiatric patients.

Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.