CINCINNATI — A federal judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a freelance journalist against the City of Cincinnati and a police sergeant for false arrest, stemming from his refusal to stop videotaping the aftermath of a deadly crash that happened after a driver fled a police stop in 2023.
An assistant city solicitor argued that journalist Calvin Andrus had a “mistaken belief that he had a First Amendment right to record the police in public,” which justified his arrest, according to the motion to dismiss.
But U.S. District Court Judge Matthew McFarland disagreed and refused to grant qualified immunity to Cincinnati Police Sgt. Kraig Kunz, which would have shielded him from liability.
In a Sept. 9 order, McFarland allowed all seven of Andrus’ claims to move forward toward trial, including First Amendment retaliation, calling them “well-pled.”
You can watch the confrontation between Sgt. Kunz and Andrus here:
Andrus, a journalist and videographer with 30 years of experience, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in October 2024, seeking damages for emotional distress, pain and suffering, medical expenses and punitive damages.
He also wants an injunction to stop police from wrongfully arresting journalists and restricting public access to newsworthy events.
“This incident turned very ugly for Calvin. He was cuffed and thrown into the back of a police cruiser. He stayed there for more than an hour and a half,” Andrus’ criminal attorney Steve Goodin said in a 2024 interview. “That’s a traumatic experience for anybody.”
Andrus had severe chest pains and thought he was having a heart attack, which turned out to be a panic attack, and led to an overnight hospital stay, Goodin said.
Kunz arrested Andrus in November 2023 and later charged him with obstructing official business, a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail, according to Goodin and court records.
One day later, an assistant city prosecutor submitted an order asking the judge to dismiss the charge, “at the request of the city of Cincinnati. The charge should be dismissed in the interests of justice.”
A city spokesperson declined to comment. Andrus’s civil lawyer, Robert Klingler, did not respond to a request for comment.
“We think there is a larger principle here,” said Goodin, a former prosecutor and ex-city council member who is seeking re-election.
“The idea that there's going to be this pushback at crime scenes on public streets … this really is going to have a chilling effect and discourage people from covering these kinds of stories,” Goodin said. “I … want to know when there is an accident on a public street. I want to know if there was police involvement. I want to know if there’s a shooting on a public street.”
Andrus listened to police radio traffic about a severe car crash on Spring Grove Avenue in Northside on Nov. 19, 2023. He arrived and began recording the police response with his video camera.
“Our understanding based on the public records is ... there was a motorist who was pulled over. She had a suspended license; she fled the traffic stop. There is some question as to what happened next,” Goodin said. “She crashes into this building; the building is old. It collapses upon her, and she’s killed.”
Footage from Andrus’ body-worn camera, obtained by WCPO, shows him standing outside of police tape surrounding the scene, and filming when an officer approached him.
He can be heard telling Andrus to move so he can enlarge the crime scene. Andrus protested and said state law allowed him to be there.
“I’m not in the crime scene, I walked right in, and I didn’t walk under any crime scene tape whatsoever,” Andrus can be heard saying.
The officer asked about Andrus’ body camera and said, “Well, you’re going to jail, so that’s not going to stay on you.”
“I’m not going to go to jail. For what? What’s the charge? What charge? What crime are you going to charge me with?” Andrus responded.
Goodin said the officer was trying to expand the crime scene to more than two acres for a single-car crash, with no risk to public safety, such as leaking fuel.
“Our concern is that the crime scene wasn’t being extended because of any kind of investigative purpose or any sort of threat to the public,” Goodin said. “It was being extended to move Mr. Andrus out of the crime scene to a place where he couldn’t record it.”
Other media arrived on the accident scene, including WCPO, and police gave this account of what happened: At approximately 2 a.m., police attempted a traffic stop for alleged speeding at Spring Grove Avenue and Winton Road. The driver, after speaking with police, fled the stop at between 50 to 70 mph.
The driver lost control at Spring Grove and Dane Avenue, struck the curb, and crashed into a nearby building. She was killed.
