Ex-Football Player Sues CHP for Injuries in Traffic Stop

A former Canadian Football League player has sued the California Highway Patrol for assault, alleging two officers injured his knee when they pushed him down a freeway embankment after a traffic stop.

Alex Stewart, 32, who played with the British Columbia Lions, contends that on Oct. 22, 1995, Officers Erick Heinlein and Chris Finnega pushed him down the grade off the Orange Freeway without provocation. Stewart said his left knee, which had recently undergone surgery, was re-injured.

Stewart’s attorney, Brian A.S. Waite, said Friday that Stewart’s contract with the Lions was up for renewal at the time but was not extended because of the injury stemming from the incident.

CHP officials could not be reached for comment.

According to the lawsuit, filed Friday in Orange County Superior Court, Stewart was pulled over, asked to exit his car and perform a series of drunk-driving tests. Stewart said he told the officers he just had surgery on his left knee and could not stand on it for too long.

“Shortly after making these remarks and without provocation, [Stewart] was grabbed by the shoulders by [the officers] and pushed over the side of the road into a ditch,” the lawsuit said. As Stewart “rolled down the embankment . . . he distinctly heard and felt a ‘pop’ in his left knee.”

The officers walked down to the ravine and told Stewart they pushed him down the embankment because “they saw a car approaching,” according to the lawsuit.

Heinlein and Finnega called their supervisor to inform him of the incident and were told it was not necessary to fill out an accident report, Stewart said. Stewart, who was allowed to go, drove himself to a hospital, where he was told that “because of the damage to his knee . . . he would have to have reconstructive surgery,” said the suit, which seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Since the surgery, Stewart has undergone physical therapy and has not been able to play football, Waite said.