A Thornton woman filed a civil rights lawsuit against an Adams County sheriff’s deputy this month after he attacked her and her family in a Walmart parking lot while off-duty last year past, according to court records.

According to the lawsuit, Linda Hurley is suing Adams County Sheriff’s Deputy Ezekiel Spotts for violating her and her family’s Fourth Amendment protections against excessive force and illegal seizures. He is also suing the county itself for failing to properly hire, investigate, train, supervise and discipline its deputies.

The suit, filed Oct. 24 in Colorado District Court, seeks damages for Hurley’s legal fees, economic damages from the inability to work, pain and suffering, emotional distress, impairment of quality of life and all “reasonable and necessary” medical expenses.

Hurley suffered a fractured skull, brain bleeding, concussion and broken nose from Spotts’ attack, as well as soft tissue injuries to his body, including his face, abdomen and left leg, according to the lawsuit.

Since the attack, the lawsuit claims Hurley has also suffered “significant mental and emotional damage,” including nightmares, severe anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In July 2023, Hurley, her daughter — Erika Smith, who has autism and bipolar disorder — and her 3-month-old granddaughter were leaving Walmart in Thornton when they nearly hit Spotts with their stroller, according to court records.

Spotts, who was off duty at the time of the confrontation, told Thornton officers that Smith acted like he was moving too slowly and started “running his mouth” while yelling at him, according to a report of the Prosecutor’s Office 17 Judiciary. He told police he pushed her out of the way and slapped her three or four times before he pushed her again.

Smith said she told Spotts not to pull over in front of people and block the exit, prompting the off-duty deputy to follow her out the door, police said in the report.

She said Spotts pushed her first, causing Smith to lose his balance, according to the lawsuit. When he tried to hit her again, Smith said she slapped him. Then Hurley stepped between the two.

Spotts threatened to arrest Hurley for “interfering” and identified himself as a police officer, but he refused to provide a badge number, the lawsuit states. When Thornton officers arrived, police said he readily identified himself as an Adams County deputy.

Hurley said Spotts followed them to their car and tried to take photos of the license plate, according to the lawsuit.

When the women refused to close the trunk and allow him to take the photo, he grabbed Smith by the throat with both hands and strangled her for about 30 seconds, the lawsuit alleges. Hurley said she tried to get the deputy off her daughter, but only managed to get his attention.

Spotts “repeatedly punched her in the face” and threw her “through a nearby shopping cart and into a standing car,” the lawsuit states.

Hurley’s niece was still in the shopping cart when Spotts threw Hurley into it, according to the lawsuit. When Hurley’s body hit the stroller, it overturned, knocking the child several feet onto the sidewalk.

The lawsuit claimed that several witnesses saw the attack and supported Hurley’s story, but did not name any of them.