Merced man says he was beaten by law enforcement officers. Now he wants $20 million.

Merced County officials on Tuesday rejected a $10 million claim from a man who said he was unnecessarily beaten by law enforcement officers following an argument at a Merced convenience store.

William Colbert’s claim for damages following a March 12 run-in with multiple officers was unanimously denied, along with two unrelated claims, by the Merced County Board of Supervisors.

Colbert told the Sun-Star earlier this year he was “happy to be alive” following an incident outside the ampm market on G Street and Olive Avenue in Merced that left his face swollen and bloodied. He claimed he was beaten a second time by officers as he during the booking process at the Merced County Jail.

The 39-year-old Merced man was also charged with two felony counts of resisting officers, and misdemeanor counts of assaulting an officer and vandalism for allegedly damaging a city police car, according to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office.

Colbert, a welder and pipe-fitter, previously said he was brutalized by more than one officer after about 10:30 p.m. March 12.

Police were called to the store to investigate a dispute between Colbert and a clerk, an argument that Colbert said stemmed from a disagreement over a refund.

Colbert has said he didn’t threaten the clerk and that he never resisted arrest.

Rejecting the claim sets the county up for “formal legal action,” according to Patrick Buelna, Colbert’s attorney. Buelna will represent Colbert in the lawsuit and defend him against charges, he said.

“As far as I’m concerned, there was a repeated use of excessive force,” Buelna said on Tuesday. “If it was the same officer on both incidents, then there’s a real problem if the Merced police haven’t taken any action to discipline and/or retrain that officer.”

In an interview with the Sun-Star earlier this year, Colbert said Merced police officers beat him unnecessarily. Colbert, who is black, said much of the aggression came from a white officer.

His attorney said Tuesday that Colbert could not say for certain whether county sheriff’s deputies were involved in the incident at the jail because he was struck from behind. Even if deputies weren’t involved, law enforcement officials are expected to stop abuse, the attorney said.

“The deputies have an obligation if they’re seeing excessive force used,” he said. “That’s a crime. That’s a battery. So they have a legal duty to intervene if they see it.”

The Merced County Counsel in March denied a Sun-Star public records request for video from inside the Main Jail. The Counsel declined to discuss specifics of the incident on Tuesday, saying it involved potential litigation, according to Mike North, the county spokesperson.

“Staff did review the material and decided that the claim was not substantiated and should be rejected,” he said in an email.

Buelna took over Colbert’s case from a previous attorney, who also filed a $10 million claim for damages last week from the city of Merced, according to Mike Conway, the city’s spokesperson. That claim has not yet been addressed by the Merced City Council, which doesn’t meet again until Monday.

An audio recording from a 911 call by the convenience store clerk released in July includes the clerk telling dispatchers Colbert has a gun. Colbert has denied ever having a weapon, and the District Attorney’s Office confirmed police never found a gun.

The Merced Police Department launched an internal review following the use of force and a complaint filed by Colbert, police confirmed. Officers said Colbert charged the clerk at one point and then officers, and also resisted arrest.

Prosecutors have not released any video footage from police body cameras, saying it was evidence that would come during the court process.

The claim filed with the county asks for damages related to injuries around the head, shoulder, back, face and other parts of the body. It also says Colbert was denied civil rights, among other claims.

He’s set to be arraigned on the charges in Merced County Superior Court on Aug. 8.

This story was originally published July 31, 2018 at 4:11 PM.