A federal judge has denied an attorney's request to amend the lawsuit of his client, who was arrested in a St. Paul skyway last year.

Andrew Irlbeck had argued that his client, Christopher Lollie, should be allowed to amend his lawsuit against the city of St. Paul and three police officers to include that the city has an unwritten policy of "deliberate indifference" to constitutional violations by its police officers.

In an order filed this week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Hildy Bowbeer said there wasn't enough evidence to show that there was an alleged custom of misconduct by city employees.

"Nothing in the proposed allegations identifies other incidents beyond plaintiff's own that would suggest the existence of a continuing, persistent and widespread pattern of unconstitutional misconduct," Bowbeer wrote.

Lollie, 28, was subdued with a Taser and then arrested in the skyway on Jan. 31, 2014, after he refused to leave a lounge and identify himself to police. He has said he believes he was targeted because he's black.

His suit, which seeks $500,000 in damages, alleges that his constitutional rights were violated and that officers used force and detained him without "a reasonable, articulable suspicion." It also alleges that his Fourth and 14th Amendment rights were violated.

Jenni Pinkley, Star Tribune
St. Paul police released surveillance video showing the officers’ encounter in January that led to the man being shot with a Taser in what he alleges was a racially tinged incident.

NICOLE NORFLEET