Tragic Death Sparks Lawsuit Against Knoxville Police Chief and City Officials
CNN—The Knoxville, Tennessee Police Department is facing a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Kimberly Williams-Clabo, the mother of Mika Wheeler Clabo, a 30-year-old man who drowned in the Tennessee River last year. Williams-Clabo alleges that police officers stood by for 13 minutes without taking any action to rescue her son, who was acting erratically at the time.
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court one year after Clabo’s death, names Knoxville Police Chief, the city, and four officers as defendants. According to Lance Baker, the family’s attorney, Williams-Clabo believes that her son deserved better treatment from first responders who should have intervened promptly instead of acting as bystanders.
In response to the lawsuit, the Knoxville Police Department issued a statement on social media, asserting that the officer involved did not respond inappropriately and that the city would strongly defend itself against the allegations. The statement also emphasized that additional specialized resources were immediately requested and rejected any claim that the police prevented reasonable rescue attempts.
The lawsuit portrays Clabo as a master arborist with a passion for nature who struggled with opioid addiction since his teenage years. He had participated in a court-sponsored rehabilitation program and was residing in a halfway house in Knoxville at the time of his death, according to the lawsuit.
Clabo went missing on July 21, 2022, after spending the weekend with his mother in a nearby county. Four days later, multiple calls were made to authorities reporting his unusual behavior on a Knoxville street. The police incident report mentioned witnesses observing Clabo rolling in the street, appearing scared and dressed only in black underwear and a T-shirt.
At approximately 10 am on July 25, a police officer encountered Clabo walking on the railroad tracks near the Tennessee River. According to the lawsuit, body camera footage captures Clabo running towards the river after ignoring the officer’s inquiries. The officer allegedly told Clabo to return once he was done. Clabo continued towards the river and eventually fell into the water at 10:14 am.
The officer called for a rescue boat from the Knoxville Fire Department, but the lawsuit claims that the officer only instructed Clabo to swim to a nearby dock and did not attempt to save him. As Clabo struggled to stay afloat, other officers arrived and discussed the possibility of pulling him out of the water but expressed concern for their own safety.
According to the lawsuit, citizens who witnessed the incident offered to help, but officers allegedly prevented them from doing so. One individual, who worked at a nearby establishment, pleaded with an officer to use a tow strap to rescue Clabo, even offering to retrieve flotation devices or a small boat stored on the premises. However, the officer rejected the offer, citing safety reasons.
Clabo ultimately disappeared underwater at 10:27 am and was not seen above the water again. Divers retrieved his body around 12:40 pm, entangled with vines. The Knox County Medical Examiner determined Clabo’s cause of death to be accidental drowning.
CNN has reached out to the city of Knoxville for comment regarding the lawsuit, but no response has been received thus far. The legal proceedings will shed light on the actions and decisions made by the Knoxville Police Department on the day of Clabo’s tragic death.