James was arrested as he was throwing trash into a garbage bin outside a White Castle restaurant. The officers took him to a police station but refused to tell James why he had been arrested. Instead, one officer said, "We got something for big mouthy niggers like you," and other officers began to punch James in the face and body while holding him down to a bench. One officer used "brass knuckles" to punch James in the jaw. Police ripped James' clothes off and left him naked for several hours. Another person in the holding cell told a supervising officer that James needed medical help and he was taken to a hospital. James refused medical treatment, but he was restrained, drugged and had a catheter inserted into his penis. Officers claimed James was a danger to himself and others and took him to a hospital, where medical personnel said James was cooperative and lucid and discharged him.