Immunity appeal denied for Atlanta police officer accused of chasing couple into their home and arresting them for saying 'what the fuck' as they complied with an unlawful order

11 page pdf: Carr v. Cadeau, 2016 U.S. App. 11th Cir.(Unpublished)Tl;dr:Plaintiffs were walking on a street closed for a neighborhood fair toward and mere feet from their home when the defendant off duty officer yelled at them to get off the street. They were walking home anyway. Nevertheless, the officer chased them into their garage and chased one plaintiff into the house to arrest them for disobeying a police officer when (a) they didn’t and (b) he didn’t identify himself as a police officer.The claim:Carr and Gibson live in the Castleberry Hill neighborhood of downtown Atlanta. On the evening of October 5, 2013, the street in front of their home was closed to car traffic for a public arts event called the Flux Festival. The City of Atlanta had granted a permit for the event and arranged for off-duty police officers to provide security. Carr and Gibson were returning from the Flux Festival late at night when they heard Officer Cadeau tell them to get off the street.Officer Cadeau did not identify himself as a police officer. At the time Officer Cadeau yelled at them, Carr and Gibson were walking about 20 to 30 feet from the entrance to their home. Carr responded “what, what the fuck.” She then pointed at her door and said, “I live here. This is my home.” The couple then continued walking toward their home. When they reached their home, Gibson began to open the garage door by entering a code into a keypad next to the door. As he entered this code, “a bright flashlight was shined into his face.” Gibson looked around the street but couldn’t see who was holding the light. He then walked through the garage door and hit the button to close the door behind him. Once he entered the garage, he saw that Officer Cadeau was in the garage chasing his wife into their home.Officer Cadeau began “grabbing Plaintiff Carr and twisting her arm violently behind her, shoving her head-first into a parked car in the garage, then dragging her backwards, passing Plaintiff Gibson, out onto the street area.” Officer Cadeau then told another police officer to arrest Gibson “while continuing to drag Plaintiff Carr to his police vehicle where she was arrested.”Carr and Gibson were both taken to the Atlanta City Jail and held until the next morning. Both Carr and Gibson were eventually given citations for violations of the City of Atlanta’s municipal code. Carr’s citation charged her with disorderly conduct while under the influence, and Gibson’s charged him with disorderly conduct. When the couple appeared in court to answer their citations, the charges were dismissed.