Owner of Store Where Alton Sterling Was Killed Sues Cops

The owner of the Triple S Mart in Baton Rouge, La., in front of which police shot and killed Alton Sterling on July 5, has filed a lawsuit claiming that he was falsely arrested and imprisoned and that police illegally seized his property, the Daily Beast reports. In the suit—which names several police officers, the police chief, and the city of Baton Rouge—Abdullah Muhlafi claims police stole his shop's security system, confiscated his phone, and locked him in a cruiser for four hours, letting him out only when he had to go to the bathroom (which, per the suit, he was forced to do outside within public view). Per the Daily Beast, police, at that time, had not applied for a search warrant and Muhlafi did not sign a form consenting to the search.

But, according to the website, police did file a search warrant and affidavit with the court on Monday, nearly a week after the incident; per those documents, officers submitted an affidavit at 5:23am July 5, and began their search of the convenience store at 5:50am. Muhlafi, however, claims the search began about 1am. “The timeline definitely doesn’t add up,” attorney Joel Porter told the Daily Beast, which notes the only way to know the truth is to see the security footage that police confiscated. Meanwhile, District Attorney Hillar Moore III has recused himself from the investigation into the death of 37-year-old Sterling at the hands of officers Blane Salamoni and Howie lake II. Moore says he has worked with Salamoni's parents, ABC reports, both of whom are police officers. Now, the attorney general can take over, or appoint another district attorney. (More Alton Sterling stories.)