COVINGTON, Ky. — The Covington Police Department is facing its 14th federal lawsuit since 2021, accusing the city of negligent hiring and failing to properly train and supervise officers.
Seven of the lawsuits have named Officer Doug Ullrich as a defendant, accusing him of using excessive force, making unreasonable searches and false arrest.
Ullrich is a 14-year veteran of the department. His pro-active policing style made him a leader on the night shift, regularly removing drugs, guns and DUI suspects from the streets of Covington.
By the time he moved to a day shift position this year, Ullrich had trained more than 80 officers on his methods, according to a deposition in one of his three pending cases.
WATCH: We look into recent lawsuits against the city and Ullrich
“He has the most felony arrests, most DUIs and the most felony drug arrests,” Sgt. Daniel Mitchell wrote in Ullrich’s 2020 performance review. “The main reason for his exceptionally high numbers is that he makes the most traffic stops.”
But in recent years, Ullrich has been the target of civil attorneys and suspects who question whether he’s violating the constitutional rights of people he arrests.
Attorney Jamir Davis filed five of the 14 lawsuits and has three cases pending against Ullrich.
“An officer who’s able to do what he wants and when he wants is a threat to the citizens of Covington,” Davis said. “And we’ve seen that in Doug Ullrich.”

Covington has yet to be found liable in any of the 14 cases filed since June 7, 2021. Two of them that did not involve Ullrich were settled by the city without an admission of liability. Davis filed three new cases against Ullrich this year.
In June, an expert witness in a 2024 lawsuit concluded the department had “systemic failures” in its use of force practices.
The WCPO 9 I-Team has been reviewing the Covington lawsuits as its police department nears the completion of its own use-of-force investigation, following the arrest of journalists and protesters on the Roebling Suspension Bridge.
Video of the July 17 protest showed one officer repeatedly punching a man who was clinging to a bridge railing to avoid arrest. Police Chief Brian Valenti defended the head strikes as necessary but placed the officer on administrative duty pending a “full and fair” review.
The I-Team requested interviews with Ullrich, Covington Mayor Ron Washington and Police Chief Justin Wietholter, who replaced the retiring Valenti in August. The city provided a statement, saying it cannot comment on pending litigation.
"The city and the Covington Police Department take every use of force seriously and investigate each incident thoroughly,” spokesperson Dan Wohler wrote. “All investigations are conducted according to established procedures to ensure accountability and transparency.”
Wohler also noted that Davis “has previously been sanctioned by a federal court for his conduct in relation to claims against the city.”
He’s talking about an April 8, 2025, ruling by U.S. District Judge David Bunning. It required Davis to pay some of Covington’s attorney fees from a 2021 case in which Davis alleged Ullrich and two other officers violated the constitutional rights of his client, Anthony Wynn.
Bunning ruled Davis should have dropped one of his claims when the city produced evidence that Ullrich and two other officers were not present during one of Wynn’s three arrests.
“Mr. Davis’s failure to concede the January 1, 2021 claim was vexatious conduct and needlessly increased the costs of litigation,” Judge Bunning wrote.
Davis appealed that decision while making accusations of his own against Ullrich, Judge Bunning and Kenton County prosecutors, in an Aug. 25 filing to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Officer Ullrich is married to Kenton County prosecutor Emily Arnzen, who works under Commonwealth Attorney Rob Sanders,” Davis wrote. “Judge Bunning has longstanding ties to the Sanders family, including regularly attending Highland Heights football games with Rob Sanders’ father ... These connections raise serious concerns about impartiality in a case where sanctions were issued in favor of officers tied to Sanders’ office.”
Judge Bunning's office declined an interview on his behalf. Sanders did not return the I-Team's call.
The Davis file
Davis grew up in California and earned degrees from the University of Kentucky in 2007 and 2008, after playing football for the Wildcats. After graduating from law school in California, he moved back to Kentucky in 2016 to become executive director of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s Office for Civil Rights and Small Business Development.
In 2019, while working on the Brent Spence Bridge project, Davis said he moved to Covington because it was “way cooler than Frankfort.” When the state job ended in 2020, he remained in Covington, opening his own law firm on Scott Street.
Davis said he never intended to be the guy who filed five lawsuits against the Covington Police Department.
But he also had some bad experiences with Covington officers before he filed the Wynn case in 2021.

“Pulling me over, asking me if I had weapons in the car, just an aggressive tone to them,” Davis said. “Then, after I filed the Wynn case, people said, ‘That same officer did that to me.’ It just became a thing where I wasn’t even looking for the cases.”
The Wynn case lasted four years, during which Davis became convinced that Ullrich was a bad influence on the department. Four of his five federal cases named Ullrich as a defendant.
“If you look at all of the situations that I filed suit on, there was no emergency pending when Ullrich got to the scene,” Davis said. “There was no emergency that required the use of force immediately. But somehow, it always escalates to that with him.”
In July, Davis sued attorney Jeff Mando and the city in Kenton County Circuit Court, alleging they engaged in “a coordinated campaign of intimidation and retaliation” against him.
He alleged Mando submitted false information to secure Judge Bunning’s sanctions against him. He also alleged unnamed Covington officers pulled him over for a bogus traffic violation in 2024 and drove by his office while making “gestures simulating a gun being pointed and fired.”
Mando declined to comment for this story.
In his August appeal of Judge Bunning’s sanction against him, Davis argued Covington “fostered a culture of impunity” that allowed Ullrich and others to avoid consequences for their actions.
“Because Ullrich and Arnzen do not publicly share the same last name, their marriage and professional ties are not immediately obvious,” Davis wrote. “This lack of transparency conceals a significant conflict of interest and helps explain why Ullrich has faced no accountability despite repeated, well-documented misconduct.”
Ullrich addressed the alleged conflict of interest in a 2022 deposition, saying he’s testified in only one of Arnzen’s cases since they began dating in 2016. They were married in 2021.
“Before we were in any relationship, she was a prosecutor and we had cases together, and we certainly prepared for those cases,” Ullrich said. “But since we've been together, we have not had shared cases, and we don't prep my cases through her.”

The Ullrich file
In some ways, Ullrich provides the kind of policing many Americans say they want these days: Always on alert for criminal activity, an officer who uses traffic stops as entry points to investigations that lead to felony arrests and drug charges.
“Ullrich knows his job,” Sgt. Donald Strange wrote in annual reviews for 2018 and 2019. “He is very familiar with KRS (Kentucky Revised Statutes) and actively researches current case law to support his arrests and cases."
Another supervisor said Ullrich was “in constant contact with the Kenton County Commonwealth Attorney's office" in 2020, “consulting with them on how to improve his cases.”
A separate review said Ullrich accounted for 35 of the 173 weapons seized by the Covington Police Department in 2022. In 2016, he won the Governor’s Award for impaired driving enforcement with 171 arrests.
Ullrich has never been disciplined for a use-of-force violation, based on the I-Team’s review of court filings and personnel files obtained in public record requests.
But Ullrich has been criticized by his supervisors for 15 auto accidents since 2013. Seven of the accidents were his fault, leading to a letter of reprimand in 2014 and one-day suspensions in 2016 and 2017. He also received reprimands for six policy violations in 2014 and for failing to log THC cartridges as evidence in 2022.
Ullrich reached “a crossroads” in 2014, when Sgt. Aaron Mears documented several concerns.
They included a flippant remark Ullrich made to other officers on the department’s mobile data terminals. The comment, “I violate every policy,” has been cited in multiple lawsuits against Ullrich.
“He needs to start taking his time and slow down, from arrests to logging evidence, to downloading use of force reports and driving,” Sgt. Mears wrote. “He is in such a hurry to get back out on the street and make traffic stops and take dispatched calls, he is neglecting his other duties."
Ten years later, Sgt. Brian Powers called Ullrich “an invaluable asset” to the department.
“He skillfully utilizes his expertise as a Traffic Accident Prevention Unit officer, Drug Recognition Expert, DUI Training Officer and SWAT Crisis Negotiator to conduct a wide range of investigations. These include DUI investigations, traffic accidents, drug investigations, gun and money seizures and handling subjects in crisis,” Powers wrote.
About those lawsuits
It was a subject in crisis that led to Ullrich’s most recent lawsuit, filed by a woman who claims Ullrich snapped the bone in her upper left arm while trying to arrest her.
Kathleen Keitz told the I-Team her experience was belittling, life-altering and very painful.
“I just felt like I was being bullied,” Keitz said. “I was scared. I was hurt. I was in pain. It was just like nothing I thought that I would ever have to deal with.”

Body-worn camera video, provided by Davis, shows Ullrich and Officer Sean Sinacori approaching a pick-up truck in the Stadium Liquor parking lot at 12:23 a.m. on October 27, 2024. Keitz opened the door to talk to Ullrich, who asked if she was OK.
“We got a call about you and your truck,” Ullrich said.
“What about me?” Keitz responded.
“I’m not entirely sure, but somebody called and said you were suicidal or something,” he said.
In the four minutes that followed, Ullrich ordered Keitz out of the truck so he could search her for weapons. Keitz recognized Sinacori as an officer who participated in what she now alleges was an “unconstitutional and invasive” search of her apartment earlier that day. Keitz revealed that her boyfriend was cheating on her, and Sinacori revealed that Keitz’s ex-boyfriend wanted his truck back.
“Why do you have to be an ass?” she shouted.
“Alright, here’s the f—king deal,” responded Ullrich, who is nearly a foot taller than Keitz and was pointing in her face. “I’m about this close to taking you to jail.”
Next came a string of profanities as Sinacori initiated an arrest, and Ullrich grabbed Keitz’s left arm, which broke about 10 seconds later.
Keitz was charged with resisting arrest, but that charge was dropped when she pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, unauthorized possession of a vehicle and not having her driver’s license on her when she was arrested.
She said she didn’t file a complaint against the officers because her public defender told her she needed to resolve the criminal charges first.
One year later, she’s embarrassed by the scar on her arm and fearful of the police.
“I just want to be acknowledged that I was hurt by them and not sweep it under the rug,” Keitz said. “Every time I see a cop I think, ‘Is he still working? Are they still letting him out here, able to do this stuff to other people? And how much stuff has he gotten away with already?’”
Systemic failure?
The city has yet to respond to Keitz’s complaint in court filings, but it made extensive arguments in another case that digs into the details of how the department’s use-of-force rules apply to Ullrich’s style of policing.
That case involves Ashley Ferreiras, who was recovering from left ankle surgery when Covington officers stopped her boyfriend’s car near her home on May 4, 2023. Her complaint alleges Ullrich and Officer Anthony Fritsch violated the department’s use of force rules by pulling away her crutches, punching her in the head and stepping on her foot after she fell to the ground.
The case has reached a pivotal point, in which the city has filed for summary judgment, arguing Ferreiras ignored Ullrich’s orders to stay away from the traffic stop and actively resisted arrest.
“From verbal noncompliance to outright assault, Ferreiras resisted Officer Ullrich’s efforts to arrest her for nearly seven minutes,” said the motion, filed by attorney Jeff Mando. “In those minutes, she pulled away from, hit, kicked, and bit Officer Ullrich.”
Body cam video doesn’t show Ferreiras kicking or biting Ullrich, but it does show both officers removing her crutches as she shouts, “My f—king ankle’s broke, you stupid b—h.”
Attorney Justin Whittaker asked Judge Danny Reeves to let a jury decide the case, currently scheduled for trial in December.
“It was Ullrich who began yelling at Ferreiras from the start in aggressive and threatening language,” Whittaker wrote. “He then escalated the confrontation by grabbing her, discarding her crutch, and placing her under arrest for a minor, non-violent offense that should have resulted in a ticket or fine according to the statute.”
Whittaker also submitted an 11-page report from an expert witness who identified four ways the Ferreiras' arrest violated Covington’s “General Orders.” It’s a policy manual that requires officers to “exhaust all other reasonable means of achieving a lawful police objective, including the application of de-escalation techniques, before resorting to the use of force.”
Michael Marcum, a certified police trainer who is pursuing a law degree at Northern Kentucky University, said Ullrich’s use of reinforced gloves, while punching Ferreiras as Fritsch held her down, “constitutes a use of deadly force” that was not required to subdue her.
“Officer Ullrich’s immediate removal of Ms. Ferreiras' crutch, followed by a physical takedown and closed-fist strikes to the head, represents an escalation of force inconsistent with both the Covington Police Department policy and the proven benefits of leverage-based, team-oriented control,” Marcum wrote. “This disconnect reflects a broader, systemic failure of the Covington Police Department to align officer conduct with contemporary, research-informed standards of police use of force. This is underscored by a gap between the agency’s stated policy and actual field application.”
Davis said that’s the reason he continues to file lawsuits against Doug Ullrich.
“A good police officer can follow the policies and still get the job done,” Davis said. “Ullrich doesn’t live by those orders. He doesn’t work by those orders. And I believe he’s training other officers to not follow those orders.”

The WCPO 9 I-Team reviewed all 14 cases filed against the city since 2021. Here's a summary of the filings and what's happened on these cases to date:
Plaintiffs: Frankie Torres, Cecil Jones
Case number: 2:25-cv-00126
Officers named: Doug Ullrich, Brian Valenti (retired chief), up to 50 unknown officers.
Attorney: Jamir Davis
Date filed: 8/20/25
Date(s) of incident: 3/14/25
Claims: Monell claim (municipal liability), battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, negligent hiring.
Description of case: Frankie and Cecil were on their way home from a funeral when Ullrich allegedly subjected them to “an unlawful and invasive search in violation of their constitutional rights.”
Major developments: City has yet to respond.
Plaintiff: Kathleen Keitz
Case number: 2:25-CV-125
Officers named: Doug Ullrich, Sean Sinacori, Brian Valenti, up to 50 unknown officers
Attorney: Jamir Davis
Date filed: 8/20/25
Date(s) of incident: October 26 and 27, 2024
Claims: Excessive force (4th amendment), battery, assault, emotional distress, negligent hiring, false imprisonment, false arrest, 14th amendment violation, illegal search of residence.
Description of case: Keitz alleged police “forced entry without a warrant” at her apartment, then broke her arm after ordering her out of her boyfriend’s truck later that night. “The break is immediately obvious on the body-worn camera footage,” the complaint says. “Officer Ullrich reacted by saying, ‘Oh shit.’”
Major developments: Covington has yet to respond to the complaint. Keitz pleaded guilty in April 2025 to unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, failing to have a driver’s license and disorderly conduct. Prosecutors dropped a resisting arrest charge as part of her plea agreement.
Plaintiff: Ava Blair
Case number: 2:25-cv-00114
Officers named: Brian Valenti, up to 50 unknown officers
Attorney: None
Date filed: 8/11/20
Date(s) of incident: 1/27/24
Description of case: In a “pro se” civil case, Blair claims she was 17 when she ran from a Covington police cruiser “for fear of being cited under Covington curfew.” An unidentified officer chased and “body slammed” her to the frozen ground, leaving bruises and a partial missing tooth.
Major developments: Judge David Bunning dismissed her case without prejudice on 8/20/25, saying she filed the wrong form in explaining her (lack of) ability to pay a $405 filing fee.
Plaintiff: Damien Conner
Case number: 2:25-cv-00042
Officers named: Ullrich, Chief Valenti and up to 50 unknown officers
Attorney: Jamir Davis
Date filed: 3/19/25
Date(s) of incident: 9/23/24
Claims: Excessive force (14th amendment), Monell claim (municipal liability), battery, assault, emotional distress, negligence, negligent hiring, supervisor liability.
Description of case: Complaint alleges Conner was pulled over on I-75 while on his way to work, Ullrich ordered him out of the vehicle, Conner failed to comply so he was “grabbed by two officers and pulled out of his car.”
Major developments: This case originally included Tamela Scott as a plaintiff. Judge Danny Reeves dismissed her claims on 9/4/25, ruling they had nothing to do with Conner’s stop.
Plaintiff: Perry Lee Whatley
Case number: 2:24-cv-00077-DLB
Officers named: Doug Ullrich
Attorney: None
Date filed: 5/6/24
Date(s) of incident: Unclear
Description of case: Jailhouse complaint alleges Ullrich “went as far as to produce a small baggie of something which he fabricates and says he found in police vehicle.”
Major developments: On 5/20/24, Judge David Bunning dismisses all claims except for one of four filed against Ullrich: “Whatley’s third claim — that Ullrich fabricated evidence — will remain.”
May 28, 2025: Judge Bunning dismissed the final claim after Whatley pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine and tampering with evidence in his Kenton County criminal case, 18- CR-00035.
Plaintiff: Ashley Ferreiras
Case number: 2:24-cv-00074-DCR
Officers named: Doug Ullrich, Anthony Fritsch, City of Covington.
Claims: Deprivation of due process, Monell (municipal liability), sexual abuse, negligence, emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Attorney: Justin Whittaker, Eric Laursen
Date filed: 5/3/24
Date(s) of incident: 5/4/23
Claims: Excessive force, violations of 4th and 14th amendments, violation of 1st amendment
Description of case: Lawsuit alleges Ullrich and Fritsch assaulted Ferreiras when they “forcibly grabbed” her crutches and punched her while arresting her.
Major developments: On 12/2/24, Judge Danny Reeves dismissed three of 10 claims against Covington and its officers, including false arrest, after Ferreiras was convicted of third-degree felony assault, criminal mischief, resisting arrest and obstructing an emergency responder.
On 9/2/25, Covington filed a motion for summary judgment, saying Ferreiras ignored “no fewer than eight” orders to stay away from a traffic stop near her house. On 9/23/25, Ferreiras responded: “The non-violent misdemeanor of which Officer Ullrich suspected Ms. Ferreiras was not severe enough to warrant the use of any force against her, much less the level of force the officers employed.”
Next event: If the case survives summary judgment motion, a jury trial set for 12/9/25.
Plaintiff: Michele Renee Nutini
Case number: 2:24-cv-00076-DLB
Officers named: C. Bell, Brian Valenti, up to 50 unknown officers.
Attorney: Jamir Davis (replaced by Nutini)
Date filed: 5/3/24
Date(s) of incident: 5/3/23
Description of case: Nutini alleged Officer Bell deployed a taser into her back “without warning or notice” after she left a bar with friends, Bell made a false claim that Nutini assaulted her and Chief Valenti “failed to properly train and discipline his officers.” Covington denied the allegations in a filing on 8/23/24.
Major developments: Attorney Jamir Davis withdrew as Nutini’s counsel on 7/29/25.
Next event: Nutini is pursuing the case as “pro se” plaintiff; next status report 4/1/26.
Plaintiff: Alexander Kallmeyer
Case number: 2:24-cv-00051-DCR-CJS
Officers named: Samuel Mathews
Attorney(s): David Blank, Paul Hill
Date filed: 4/10/24
Date(s) of incident: 10/8/23
Claims: 4th and 14th amendment claims, assault and battery.
Description of case: Mathews allegedly used excessive force when he slammed Kallmeyer’s head onto the hood of his Covington police cruiser, knocking him unconscious.
Major developments: Kallmeyer’s attorney, Paul Hill, was found in contempt by Judge Reeves for comments made during jury selection. Jury ruled in favor of Officer Mathews on July 23, 2025. Hill’s contempt finding will be discussed in an Oct. 27 hearing.
Plaintiff: Carlos Harris
Case number: 2:24-cv-00032-DLB
Officers named: Detective Bret Tate
Attorney: None
Date filed: 3/05/24
Date(s) of incident: 5/18/99 to 12/2/99
Description of case: Harris, convicted of murdering his wife in 1999, filed a lawsuit from the Lee Adjustment Center in Beattyville, Ky. He claimed Detective Bret Tate conspired with Kenton County Prosecutor Rob Sanders, his defense attorney and others to conceal exculpatory evidence.
Major developments: Judge David Bunning ruled on 11/20/24 Harris cannot pursue a civil claim unless he “convinces a court of competent jurisdiction to vacate his sentence.” Bunning’s ruling was upheld by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on 4/21/25.
Plaintiff: Brett Bass
Case number: 2:2023cv00127
Officers named: Nicholas Hancock, Zachary Staton, city of Covington
Attorney: Christopher David West
Date filed: 9/21/23
Date(s) of incident: 9/22/22
Claims: 4th amendment violation, 1st amendment violation, assault and battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, malicious prosecution, conversion, trespass to chattels.
Description of case: Officers allegedly shoved Bass into a fence and injured him with handcuffs after he refused to show an ID in the parking lot of a closed Kroger store. The lawsuit alleges the officer violated his 1st and 4th amendment rights while committing civil assault and battery.
Major developments: Bass voluntarily dismissed claims against the officers on Feb. 5, 2024. His attorney said it was part of a settlement.
Plaintiff: Sean Davis
Case number: 2:23-cv-00066-DCR-CJS
Officers named: Michael Lusardi and 10 unnamed officers
Attorney: Anita M. Washington
Date filed: 5/15/23
Date(s) of incident: 6/6/22
Description of case: Davis was sleeping in the woods, when Officer Lusardi released a police dog on Davis – based on reports that his voice sounded like someone the caller had a restraining order against.
Major developments: In a May 13, 2024 ruling, Judge granted summary judgment to Covington and 10 unnamed officers; let stand only one claim against Lunardi involving bites that happened after Davis was restrained.
Case against Lusardi was dismissed after claims were “resolved or otherwise settled” on July 31, 2024.
Plaintiff: Anthony Camarca
Case number: 2:22-cv-00128-KKC
Officers named: City of Covington, Officers Woodward, Christen, Morris, Mathews, Gilliland
Attorney: David Nageleisen
Date filed: 10/14/22
Date(s) of incident: 10/14/22
Description of case: Police were called to the Covington Marriott at 3:30 a.m. for a complaint about two women fighting in the lobby. The lawsuit accuses the officers of “physically and verbally abusing arrestees without legal cause.” Camarca accused two officers of assault and battery and all of violating his civil rights and causing emotional distress.
Major developments: Judge Karen Caldwell sided with officers in summary judgment opinion on April 16, 2025: “the takedown and subsequent force used to effectuate Camarca’s arrest were objectively reasonable.” Case appealed on 5/16/25.
Plaintiff: Anthony Wynn
Case number: 2:21-cv-00137-DLB
Officers named: Doug Ullrich, John Murphy, Danny Elsbernd and Chief Robert Nader
Attorney: Jamir Davis
Date filed: 11/01/21
Date(s) of incident: 8/28/20; 1/01/21; 1/16/21
Description of case: Wynn was pulled over for driving on the shoulder of a road. Officer Ullrich said he smelled weed, leading to a roadside search in which he cut off Wynn’s underwear and found cocaine. That and two subsequent incidents prompted Wynn to sue for assault, battery, negligence and violating his constitutional rights.
Major developments: Judge David Bunning dismissed claims based on the 8-28-20 incident, citing the statute of limitations. In a 4/12/24 summary judgment motion, city said Murphy, Ellsbrend and Ullrich were not at the scene of Wynn’s arrest on 1/1/21. On the Jan. 16 incident, city argued Murphy and Elsbernd used reasonable force – bolstered by an internal affairs finding and Kenton County’s decision not to prosecute. On 8/16/24, Judge David Bunning sided with the city in a summary judgment opinion. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision on July 25, 2025. Judge Bunning also sanctioned attorney Jamir Davis for not dropping the claim from 1/21/21. Davis is appealing the sanction.
Plaintiff: Jeffrey Cundiff
Case number: 2:21-CV-00072-DLB
Officers named: Doug Ullrich, Mark Richardson
Attorney(s): Benjamin T.D. Pugh, Christopher Roach
Date filed: 6/7/21
Date(s) of incident: 6/8/2020
Description of case: Cundiff was stopped for running a stop sign. He alleged Ullrich violated his 4th Amendment rights by unreasonably searching him for drugs.
Major developments: Richardson was dismissed as a defendant on 11/21/22. Jury sided with Ullrich on 3/6/24.