Graffiti artist sues city over November arrest

In November, Phillip Perez set a video camera up to tape himself painting graffiti art at a Montrose street festival. And he did record that — but he also recorded what he claims was excessive force used by HPD officers when they came along and arrested him. Now, Perez is suing the city, claiming he was falsely arrested and that his First Amendment rights were abridged, and he says the video proves his case.

Perez (who was featured in the Chronicle earlier this month) says some police officers came by his display and asked if he had a vendor's permit. Before he could explain that he wasn't selling anything, he says they forced him into a police car: "He didn't have to push me. He didn't have to rip my shirt off my back. He didn't have to grab my arm like that," Perez told KTRK. "That's ridiculous. I was like, 'Are you serious? You treat me like I was just beating somebody up.'" Perez's lawyer, Randall Kallinen, said Perez is a well-known graffiti artist whose work has been shown around the city — and he even works with HPD's anti-gang task force teaching kids not to vandalize things with spray paint. But none of that mattered in this instance, Kallinen said: "This case is about freedom speech. People are able to say what they want in public."

Perez was arrested for resisting arrest and served two days in the Harris County Jail; according to Kallinen, the charges were later dropped. HPD and the police officers' union haven't commented on Perez's suit yet because they say they haven't seen it.