Toledo man abducted, beaten sues 3 blamed in case

8/13/2008

A Toledo man who was brutally beaten in a South Toledo basement is suing the three people charged in the crime.

Anthony Pierson filed a complaint in Lucas County Common Pleas Court against Robert Lawhorn, Jada Farthing, and Alexander Williams. Lawhorn and Farthing are currently serving prison sentences for their roles in the crime. Charges of felonious assault and kidnapping are pending against Williams, 22.

According to the complaint filed Monday, Pierson was abducted from the street by Lawhorn and Farthing, taken to a Carleton Street address, and tied up and gagged in the basement. There, together with Williams, the defendants beat him with a wooden board and hammer, placed a plastic bag over his head, and placed a plunger over his nose and mouth, the complaint said.

As a result of the beating, he sustained serious physical harm. The complaint asks for $25,000 from each defendant. It has been assigned to Judge Stacy Cook.

Lawhorn, 30, was sentenced May 8 to four years in prison for felonious assault. Farthing, 29, was sentenced May 8 to two years in prison for abduction.