Ex-Cop Charged In Breonna Taylor’s Case Accused Of Sexual Assault In New Lawsuit

The lawsuit accuses Brett Hankison, who was involved in Breonna Taylor’s death, of assault and battery. It also alleges that members of the Louisville Metro Police Department including former Chief Steve Conrad, knew of Hankison’s conduct but never reported or investigated it.

In this handout photo provided by the Shelby County Detention Center, former Louisville, Kentucky detective Brett Hankison poses for a mug shot on September 23, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. | Getty Images
In this handout photo provided by the Shelby County Detention Center, former Louisville, Kentucky detective Brett Hankison poses for a mug shot on September 23, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. | Getty Images

Brett Hankison, the only Louisville officer charged in the shooting case of Breonna Taylor, has been accused of sexual assault in a new lawsuit.

According to a report by CNN and the Courier Journal, the lawsuit filed on Tuesday states that plaintiff Margo Borders is accusing Hankison, a former detective, of assault and battery. In June, as protests for racial justice swept the nation, Borders and another woman alleged on social media that Hankison had assaulted them.

NowThis has reached out to one of Borders’ attorneys Sam Aguiar, who is also an attorney for Taylor’s family, for access to the lawsuit.

According to news reports citing the lawsuit, Borders and her attorneys are asking for a trial, and compensatory and punitive damages in an unspecified amount, as well as costs incurred for attorney fees. NowThis reached out to Hankison's attorney, Stew Mathews, for a comment. It is not immediately clear who is representing him in civil court.

The lawsuit alleges that Hankison and Borders had met in 2017 and shared a mutual friend, and that Hankison "frequently messaged" Borders on Snapchat. In 2018, Borders, then reportedly a 22-year-old law student, visited Tin Roof Bar in Kentucky, where Hankison was working as a security guard, to meet friends, according to the suit.

Borders became intoxicated that night and was going to call an Uber, but Hankison allegedly insisted that he drive her home and invited himself into her apartment. Borders then went to her room and fell asleep — and while she was unconscious, Hankison "willfully, intentionally, painfully and violently sexually assaulted" her, according to the lawsuit.

When Borders regained consciousness, she yelled for Hankison to get off her, and he grabbed his uniform and left her room, according to the lawsuit. Later that day, Hankison allegedly messaged her "to try and suggest that the two had engaged in consensual relations," according to the lawsuit.

Hankison, 44, is a "sexual predator" who "used his police uniform and secondary nightclub employment as mechanisms to prey on innocent women who are two decades younger than him," the lawsuit states, according to CNN.

The Louisville Metro Police Department said in June that it was investigating the claims.

However, the lawsuit, which includes the claims of nine women in addition to Borders, alleges that members of the LMPD, including former Chief Steve Conrad, knew of Hankinson’s conduct but never reported or investigated it.

NowThis reached out to the LMPD for comment.

"Margo and so many other women put their trust in what they thought was a police officer doing a good deed. He responded by damaging their lives," Aguiar said in a statement to multiple outlets. "We are confident that this litigation will send a message that the community will hold the police accountable when the department itself fails to do so."

The lawsuit also accuses five current and former members of the LMPD, including Conrad, of negligent supervision and failure to report and intervene. It accuses Tin Roof Bar and its manager of negligent supervision and vicarious liability, as well as "unknown defendants" who are "employed by Louisville Metro Government" of failure to report and intervene.

According to the Courier Journal, The Tin Roof put out a statement on Wednesday saying Hankison was terminated in the spring and the bar now only uses internal security staff.

"We feel there is an obligation to provide a safe environment for guests as they enter and exit the venue and would never deliberately put the safety of our patrons at risk especially by those contracted to serve and protect," the statement said. "We find the allegations to be reprehensible, and our company does not tolerate abuse of power or discrimination in any form."

In September, a grand jury charged Hankison with three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree in Taylor’s case, but did not charge any officers for killing her. Hankison pleaded not guilty days later. He was fired from the department in June for violating the department’s policy on the use of deadly force in Taylor’s case.

The other two officers involved in Taylor’s death, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove, have not been charged.