MONONA (WKOW) -- A Black man briefly detained in June by Monona police after a neighbor reported him sitting on the steps of his newly rented home has filed a federal lawsuit.
Keonte Furge is suing the city of Monona and officers Jared Wedig and Luke Wunsch.
The lawsuit seeks to, "vindicate the violation of Furge’s constitutional rights."
According to the court filing, Furge is seeking change through punitive damages by, "punishing the defendants for their egregious conduct with the hope that the punishment is significant enough to prevent this from happening again in the future, so that a person can move into a formerly vacant house in the City of Monona and sit on his front porch without having to fear that the police will break in and shoot him."
The incident began June 2 whena neighbor called policeto report that they saw a person that they didn't think belonged at the house.
However Furge had recently moved into the home with his friend, Toren Young.
When police arrived, they said they knocked and announced their presence. They could hear someone talking inside, but nobody came to greet them, according to a police news release.
Following protocol, believing this was possibly a burglary to a residence, they entered the house with guns drawn, according to Monona police.
After learning that Furge lived at the home, handcuffs were removed and officers apologized for what they described as a misunderstanding.
Police later begana review of their proceduresfollowing the incident.
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