The attorneys representing Dalvin Gadson Ochoa filed a lawsuit Wednesday in state district court alleging three Colorado Springs police officers used unnecessary force against Gadson, a Black veteran who was living in his car, and assaulted him during a traffic stop earlier this year.

The lawsuit names officers Colby Hickman, Matthew Anderson and Christopher Hummel as the officers who on Oct. 9 initiated a physical confrontation with Gadson, 29, after Hickman had pulled him over for not displaying a license plate on his vehicle.

“I feel hurt. My feelings are hurt. My body is hurt,” Gadson said at a news conference on Wednesday. “We definitely need justice in Colorado Springs, and we aren’t going to stop until we get justice.”

The news conference was held in front of police headquarters in downtown Colorado Springs where attorneys representing Gadson announced that a lawsuit was officially filed on Wednesday morning.

A handful of protesters stood behind Gadson and his attorneys during the news conference holding signs showing support, and demanding justice for Gadson.

“This is the first step taken here for Mr. Gadson to receive justice,” said Harry Daniels, one of Gadson’s attorneys. “Justice isn’t about filing the lawsuit. Justice is about getting the bad apples off the streets.”

“I don’t think this lawsuit is about a few bad apples. I actually think Colorado Springs has a bad orchard,” added Bakari Sellers, who also is representing Gadson. “And until you get to the root of the problem, and treat everyone with the kind of dignity and respect that they deserve, we are going to be back.”

The lawsuit obtained by The Gazette claims that the three officers used excessive force during the incident and that they did not give Gadson a “clear verbal (warning) of their intent to use force.”

“I used to be law enforcement. You explain to the person what’s going on,” Daniels said. “He’s only been stopped for a tag, only an infraction not even a misdemeanor. … Y’all have seen the video. They didn’t say a damn thing before they decided to beat Mr. Gadson.”

Gadson’s attorneys released the body camera footage of the incident last week, in which officers can be seen hitting Gadson in his vehicle, with Anderson striking Gadson over 20 times in the head while in his car.

“He’s assaulting me. … He’s kicking me,” an officer can be heard saying during the interaction.

“I’m not assaulting you, bro,” Gadson says in response.

The video then shows that officers removed Gadson from his car and forced him to the ground, where two officers can be seen punching and kicking Gadson as he lies on the ground.

“What the (expletive) did I do, man?” Gadson can be heard yelling as at least three  officers force Gadson to the ground to detain him.

“You’re under arrest, you dumb (expletive),” an officer can be heard saying in response.

Latrice Latin, one of Gadson’s attorneys, told reporters that as a result of the incident, Gadson suffered a black eye, back contusions, a brain injury as well as emotional and mental distress.

In an arrest affidavit for the incident, Colorado Springs police Officer J. Dussan wrote that Gadson said “something to the effect of he ‘was not going to be detained,'” and that Gadson “kicked officer Hummel in his center chest area several times, while becoming more aggressive.”

The affidavit also claims that Gadson attempted to reach for his knife in the center console, and that he “continued to fight by kicking, scratching and punching the officers.”

Anderson, who can be seen in the video punching Gadson in the head over 20 times, said in the affidavit that he used force to prevent Gadson from getting the knife that officers said was in the vehicle.

“I split my knuckles through my (expletive) glove,” the officer who punched Gadson in the car can be heard saying in the body camera footage.

Gadson was arrested and charged with second-degree assault against a peace officer (two counts), driving under the influence, obstructing a peace officer, resisting arrest and unlawful displaying of license plates.

Court records show that both assault charges were dismissed by the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

According to the lawsuit, Gadson is seeking a jury trial for emotional and physical damages, as well as economic losses, suffered by Gadson because of the incident.

No specific amount for damages is listed in the lawsuit.

Daniels previously said that he hoped criminal charges would be filed against the three officers involved. On Wednesday, he said he had reached out to the District Attorney’s Office but did not hear back.

“We will see. We will see,” Daniels said when asked if he was optimistic about criminal charges being filed against the officers.

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“We are aware of the allegations and are reviewing the evidence,” Fourth Judicial District Attorney spokesperson Howard Black told The Gazette when asked for a statement.

This is the second time in recent months that Colorado Springs police officers have been accused of using excessive force.

A lawsuit filed in October alleges that Colorado Springs police on Oct. 17, 2020, pepper sprayed a 17-year-old girl twice while she was handcuffed in the back seat of a police car.

In February, Colorado Springs reached a settlement of nearly $3 million with the estate of De’Von Bailey, who was killed in 2019 when Colorado Springs police officers shot Bailey four times in the back. A grand jury rejected filing criminal charges against the two officers involved in that shooting.

In its statement released last week, Colorado Springs police said an internal affairs investigation into the incident remains open, but that “separately, as is standard practice, an administrative review of the officers’ use of force was also conducted by the chain of command and was found to be within policy.”

Police spokesperson Robert Tornabene told The Gazette that the department would not release an additional statement on the incident.