Raleigh police excessive force lawsuit survives early legal challenge

A federal judge kept a Raleigh excessive-force lawsuit alive, extending scrutiny over a motel checkout dispute that turned into a police encounter and, now, another test of how the city handles force complaints.

For Raleigh residents, the case matters because it asks a basic question: when a minor call starts to escalate, do officers in the field have enough oversight, training and discipline to stop it before someone gets hurt and the city gets sued? Thomas TJ Sanders Jr. says the answer was no when Raleigh police confronted him and his teenage cousin at a Super 8 Motel on Dec. 18, 2022.

Sanders filed the lawsuit Sept. 4, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. The case, docketed as 5:25-cv-00555, was assigned to U.S. District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan, and court activity continued into February 2026. Sanders was 20 at the time of the motel incident.

The complaint says Sanders and his cousin had overslept their checkout time, a motel employee called police, and officers confronted the pair as they were trying to leave with their bags. Sanders says officers followed them outside, demanded identification and pushed the encounter further even after he cooperated. The lawsuit says Officer Christopher Robinson handcuffed the cousin, pinned him to the ground and then turned on Sanders as Sanders tried to record the scene on his phone.

According to the complaint, Robinson shoved Sanders, knocked the phone from his hands, dragged his arms behind his back, slammed him face-first into a tree root and knelt on his back. Sanders is suing Robinson for violating his constitutional rights and also bringing assault and negligence claims. The case clearing an early legal challenge means it can keep moving toward settlement talks or a jury trial.

Robinson’s name is already familiar in Raleigh force litigation. He was also named in the excessive-force case involving Darryl Williams, whose family reached a $1 million settlement with the city on Dec. 1, 2025. Williams’ mother had initially sought $25 million. Six officers were placed on administrative leave in that case, and none were charged.

Raleigh has faced other force-related financial fallout as well. In November 2023, the city settled a wrongful-death case for $1.25 million with the family of Soheil Mojarrad, who was shot and killed by Officer W.B. Edwards in 2019. The family said it hoped the settlement would push the department toward more de-escalation.

The Raleigh Police Department says it is reviewing policies and procedures to align with 8 Can’t Wait. It also reports traffic-stop and search data by race and ethnicity on its public data portal, a reminder that the city’s force controversies now play out in court, in public records and in the day-to-day trust officers need on Raleigh streets.